Hell Tastes Sweet
by Sanae
Summary: Post-OotP. I, Pansy Parkinson, am deeply, madly in love with the worst possible sort of wizard. Mr Draco Malfoy.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it. It's all coming from JK Rowling absolutely genial psyche and unfortunately I have nothing to do with it.

Warning: If you haven't read The Order of the Phoenix, it may not be a good idea to read this since it will contain major spoilers.

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Prologue_

As I look back on last year's events, I really cannot believe that I have done to myself the very thing I promised I would never do. Now, here I am licking my wounds in the darkness of my room while I hear my roommates talking about You-Know-Who's latest defeat by The-Boy-Who-Lived. Apparently there has been a huge battle down in the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore and Harry Potter have managed, once again, to defeat the Dark Lord. I also hear that there have been deaths in both sides.

It's funny. I am not even remotely concerned about any of this even though my parents are probably involved in the whole thing. My mind is over flooded with other, more painful thoughts.

Even as I think of him I can feel something twitch where I think my heart it's supposed to be. If anyone had told me that I would ever feel something like that I would have thought they were winding me up.

But my greatest fear is confirmed as the train pulls away from Hogsmeade station at the end of the term and the source of all my pain comes into the compartment where I am sitting, no, hiding, for that is what I have been doing since the night of the battle in a desperate attempt of self-preservation.

With his trademark smirk deforming his otherwise gorgeous lips, he says:

"Hiding from me, aren't you?" his cool, perfectly controlled tone of voice is even scarier than the loudest of the screams.

I try shaking my head but he catches it with his two hands. He comes closer to me and gives me a cruel, painful kiss. Then, he pulls away and says:

"I won't write to you this summer, you won't hear from me at all, but, you're mine, always been, always will be…this year's arrangement will be renewed as per the first day of next term…see you then…."

Then, not even waiting for me to answer, gets out the compartment where his two inseparable friends are eagerly waiting for him.

Then, I realise two frightening things. Firstly, I have no doubt I will comply with whatever he has in mind, and second, I will actually miss everything about him. This second thought makes me realise that I, Pansy Parkinson, am deeply, madly in love with the worst possible sort of wizard. Mr Draco Malfoy.

_A/N: Bear with me, this is my first HP story and I'm not sure where it's heading just yet. I thought of writing a fluffy Harry and Ginny fic, my favourite HP couple, but I realised that there are just so many of them… So I decided to write a much darker fic about Draco and Pansy. Just thought it may be interesting seeing things through her eyes. If you feel like it, tell me what you think…_


	2. Chapter One

**Hell tastes sweet**

_Chapter One_

Ever since the Dark Lord's failure to destroy The-Boy-Who-Lived the Parkinson's ancestral manor had become a madhouse. Pansy's father had in fact been as heavily involved as she had suspected. Every now and then secret meetings were held and Pansy was now getting sort of used to see her mother on the verge of a nervous breakdown on a more or less permanent basis. Being close friends with Lucius Malfoy didn't seem so advantageous anymore and her parents had to lay as low as possible as not to attract too much attention from the Ministry.

Although not a Death Eater, her father had always supported the idea that only purebloods had the right to be admitted at Hogwarts and felt positively disgusted about the idea that his perfect daughter had been forced to mix with mud and halfbloods.

Pansy had always agreed with that principle and, being sorted into the Slytherin house had been the highlight of her life and the pride of her parents.

Now, although she couldn't wait to get out of that madness, Pansy due to her newfound feelings for Draco, was dreading the day she would have to go back to Hogwarts to face his cold sneer once again.

Normally Pansy would have enjoyed her holidays relaxing with her very few, carefully selected, exclusively pureblood friends, probably feeding each other with the latest gossip and inventing new ways to insult the mudbloods. They were specially imaginative when it came to finding new ways to aggravate a very specific Gryffindor mudblood girl called Hermoine Granger.

This year was different though. To start with, none of her friends seemed to be in a very festive mood. Some of them had had a member or two of their families locked up in Azkaban and the general feeling was negative enough to keep a few Dementors well fed.

This meant that Pansy had way too much time on her hands and couldn't stop thinking about Draco, unfortunately, when it came to him, her brain just refused to shut down and the continuous battle between her survival instincts and her almost sick addiction for him was causing her an endless headache.

She knew that she ought to stay away from him if she wanted to stay sane but, she didn't know why but, Pansy felt attracted to Draco almost as though as he was some kind of magnet. He only had to snap his long, elegant fingers and she would be ready to do as he commanded.

She thought of the their arrival at Kings Cross. When she had seen Narcissa Malfoy and a couple of her servants carry Draco, or what she supposed was Draco for it was quite unrecognisable, Pansy had felt positively horrified and, seeing Harry Potter laughing with his friends meant that the current state in which Draco found himself, was probably another of the pranks Harry had managed to play on Draco.

She felt outraged by the whole affair but she also shocked herself by finding it slightly amusing. Then, the thought that this probably meant that Draco would get mad and, knowing him as she did, it would more than likely give him yet another reason to be a complete bastard to everyone, including Pansy herself, killed the smile that was threatening to come up her lips.

She still remembered his reaction when Draco found out that his father Lucius had been imprisoned. Pansy still shuddered with fear.

He had come back to the Slytherin common room and Pansy had not been quick enough to walk away and upstairs to her bedroom.

"You, come, now…" Draco ordered in what sounded more like barks than words.

Pansy found herself following him to one of the deserted classrooms. She saw him pulling out his wand and that could only mean something: he wanted to 'duel'.

"Draco…wait…" but Pansy had not been quick enough. Draco had already thrown his first curse at her. The curse caused her to be fixed to the ground, temporarily immobilised.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY DID???" Draco shouted at her, "THE BASTARDS HAVE PUT MY FATHER IN PRISON…IN PRISON!!! A MALFOY IN PRISON!!! I AM GOING TO MAKE POTTER WISH HE HAD NEVER BEEN BORN…I WILL NOT EVEN WAIT FOR OUR LORD, I WILL KILL THE BASTARD MYSELF!!!" Draco continuted shouting and Pansy grew more and more afraid seeing the boy's rage.

Seeing that the curse was losing its effect, Draco threw yet another one, this one causing Pansy's legs to go all wobbly so she fell face first to the floor, luckily she managed to put her hands forward so she avoided hitting the ground with her face.

"Gosh you're pathetic…it's difficult to think that you are actually a witch, let alone a pureblood…" Draco said looking down and laughing at her.

Pansy grabbed her own wand and tried to hex the laughing blond. Unfortunately Draco had seen her move and kicking her hand, sent her wand flying across to the other side of the classroom.

"No, no…naughty girl…those are not the terms of our agreement, are they?" Draco said crouching so his face was level with hers.

"No…they're not…" Pansy said trying, and failing, to get up from the floor.

"So…what do you have to say for your misbehaviour?" Draco said planting his smirk on his face.

"Sorry…" Pansy whispered.

"What?" Draco asked clearly pretending he hadn't heard her.

"I said, I'm sorry Draco…" Pansy said this time significantly louder.

"Good girl…now, what do you think we go to a more comfortable place…maybe my room?" Draco stated more than asked.

Pansy obeyed instantly and with a huge effort got up from the floor and followed him to the door.

"Accio wand…" said Draco lazily grasping Pansy's wand midair and handing it back to her.

After some time, spent 'entertaining' Draco, Pansy headed from the private room that the boy enjoyed to her dorm.

There she found Millicent Bulstrode.

"Where are you coming from?" the stout girl asked.

"That is none of your business…in case you haven't noticed, I am the one wearing the prefect badge here…" and with this, Pansy went to the Slytherin's prefects' bathroom to take a well deserved shower.

Thinking of that particular episode still gave goose bumps to Pansy. She had never seen Draco as angry as that.

Unfortunately, she knew that this was nothing compared with the rage he would feel knowing that he no longer had a privileged position within the school now that his father wasn't a school governor.

To be continued…

_A/N: I know I started this story with Pansy talking in first person but since I find it easier to write in third person I will now stick to this style. I hope you guys don't mind too much!! Ah, I'm sorry the chapters are so short…I hope I'll be able to make them longer as the story develops itself…_


	3. Chapter Two

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Two_

The day Pansy had been dreading had finally come and now she found herself back on platform 9 ¾ getting ready to board, for the sixth time, the Hogwarts Express that would take all the students back to their more or less beloved school.

Pansy's position as school prefect had been renewed and she was now looking for the prefects' compartment where, she was more than sure, would find Draco Malfoy. She had learnt through a fellow Slytherin that he had also kept his prefect role even after what had happened with Umbridge.

'If this is going to be my luck this year I should leave right now…' thought the girl seeing that Draco was indeed inside the compartment sitting next to the window. By himself. She was not ready yet to face him.

Pansy tried to be as quiet as possible with the stupid hope he would not realise she was there. Of course, the minute she opened the sliding door, Draco turned his head towards it.

"Ah…it's you…for a minute I thought it was that little filthy mudblood…" the blond said.

Pansy took a second to look at him, he looked bigger and a lot more manly than the last time she'd seen him, it was almost unbelievable he had changed so much in only eight weeks. It wasn't only that now, at sixteen, he had definitely left all trace of childhood behind him and had become a young man. He was, of course as handsome as ever but now his ice blue eyes were different. He still had that arrogant look that made you think he always knew something you didn't but there was also something else.

Hurt. He had that hurt look. Like a wild beast that has been wounded but has survived. Pansy remembered something she had read somewhere, it said that there was nothing more dangerous than a wounded animal because it knew that, no matter what, it would survive. This knowledge would make Draco an even more dangerous enemy and Pansy knew that this was definitely not good news for her and her romantic aspiration to have a normal relationship with him.

"Well, sit down, will you? I know I'm good looking but, honestly, you shouldn't stare at me like that…you're making it too easy for me…I may get bored…" said Draco so suddenly that it startled Pansy as though she had been waken up with a bucket of cold water.

"Yes…sorry…I mean…" Pansy stuttered.

"Oh…just shut up…will you…" Draco said turning his head back to the window. Then his face turned stony and Pansy leant to see the reason of such change.

Harry Potter had arrived to the platform with the Weasleys and the Grangers. Pansy saw the group meeting a few of the other students, including that stupid Longbottom boy, looking all happy to see one another.

Half scared, half curious, Pansy looked back at Draco. His eyes were fixed on Potter and if he could have killed the bespectacled boy just by looking at him, Harry would have fallen dead on the platform in that precise instant.

Afraid of giving any reason for Draco to make her pay for his anger, Pansy decided to sit down quietly opposite Draco and busied herself rearranging her hair using the window's reflection as mirror.

Then, someone opened the door and made Draco stop staring at Potter.

"Goyle, Crabbe…what's up?" Draco said trying to sound as overconfident as usual.

"Just wanted to tell you we'll be right outside, you know…in case you need us…" Crabbe said.

"Why would I need _you_?" Draco asked with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"Well…we've seen Potter and his friends arrive…and…well…last year…oh well…it doesn't matter…sorry…" Goyle said.

"Well…you must know that this summer I've trained really hard with some of my parents' friends and I must assure you I'm more than prepared to handle Saint Potter and his group of fanatics…" Draco said with his trademark smirk.

"Alright…well, we'll be waiting for you anyway…" Crabbe said leaving the compartment.

"What did you mean by that?" Pansy asked hoping she didn't sound as scared as she was.

"You'll see…you'll see…" said Draco enigmatically. He looked as though as he wanted to add something else but the compartment's door opened again this time to let Hermoine Granger and Ronald Weasley in closely followed by the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff's prefects.

"Oh look who's here…looking much better since last time we had the misfortune of seeing you…" Hermoine said sitting down as far from Draco and Pansy as it was possible in the small compartment.

"Yeah…although that is not saying much…considering I actually think we did him a favour turning him into a human slug…" Ron snorted copying his fellow Gryffindor's behaviour.

The other four prefects laughed at this comment causing Draco's fury to increase dangerously. Pansy looked at him and tried to make him understand that, since they were outnumbered, it would probably end up badly for him.

Then, surprising everyone in the compartment, including herself, Draco limited himself to say:

"Laugh while you can Weasley…soon you and the mudbloods will have nothing left to laugh about…."

Ron was about to reply when the door opened again and both Head Boy and Girl stepped in each with a piece of parchment looking ready to start the meeting.

Pansy sighed heavily, relieved that the confrontation had been avoided, well, postponed. She was more than sure that this coming year things would take a turn for the worse. She didn't know what but, something was about to change drastically. She just hoped that she would find herself in the side of the victor for she was not ready to live a much different life to the one she was used to.

Somehow, they managed to get off the train and reach the school without a fight, probably because right after the meeting Potter had come to pick his friends up and had miraculously convinced Ron that Draco was not worth it.

Pansy expected Draco to look awfully hurt by this but he just smirked causing Pansy's suspicions that Draco was up to something, to increase.

Of course, Draco was always conjuring against someone, sometimes just for the fun of it, in the case of Potter, because of the deep hatred he felt towards the Gryffindor boy. This time though, it looked different and something about Draco's attitude made her think that it was not one of his usual pranks. This time, things were a lot more serious and she feared that Draco had got into something a lot bigger and entirely scarier.

She was considering what it could be when she heard the object of her thoughts whispering to her ear:

"I'll see you tonight, usual place, usual time…."

Then, in one of his rare shows of affection, he kissed her neck and quickly stroked her hair causing an electric wave through her spine and an alarming increase of her heartbeat.

'Oh my goodness…I'm still in love with him…' Pansy thought knowing that, this year, would be an exact copy of last.

Pansy, with a heavy heart, walked towards the Slytherin table and sat down next to two of her friends, getting ready for Dumbledore's speech that would officially open the school year.

To be continued…

_A/N: Ok, third chapter online…still quite short but I'll try to make them longer…I hope I'm keeping things as faithful to the book as possible…in any case, since we don't know much about Pansy I'm having to make a lot of things up! As usual, I hope you're enjoying this…and thanks for the reviews!!!_


	4. Chapter Three

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Three_

After the feast, Pansy went down to the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was. There, sitting in his black leather couch, she found Draco sitting down looking incredibly pissed off.

Bracing herself for the worse, Pansy walked towards him sitting down on the couch right in front of him. Then, Pansy looked around herself and saw that most people, probably exhausted from the trip, had headed directly to their respective bedrooms.

Pansy waited till everyone except Crabbe and Goyle had gone to bed to say:

"What's wrong Draco?."

Draco waved his hand at Crabbe and Goyle and not seeing any reaction from the two said with a most annoyed voice:

"Go away. I need to speak to her alone…."

Both Crabbe and Goyle got up from their seats and, giving Pansy a dirty look, followed the rest of the students upstairs to the dorms.

Pansy didn't know whether to feel flattered that Draco wanted to speak to her on her own or to feel terrified at the prospect of facing an angry Draco.

"They've stripped down my privileges. I no longer have a bedroom of my own…Until further arrangements are made, I'm afraid we will have to see each other somewhere else…" Draco announced showing, from his tone of voice that he was incredibly angry about this.

"Ah…I'm sorry to hear that…Draco…I…well…are you…I mean…are you alright?" Pansy stuttered cursing herself for not being able to string a whole coherent sentence in front of the blond.

"Yes…Pansy…no need for you to concern yourself…in fact, I wanted to show you something…come on…follow me…" Draco said getting up and walking towards the common room's door.

Pansy, not wanting to be told off, got up immediately and followed him through the corridors till they found themselves in front of a wall.

"Courtesy of Saint Potter…" Draco said pacing back and forth three times in front of the door looking concentrated.

A door appeared and they walked in a room that looked a lot like the bedroom Draco used to occupy in Hogwards.

"Room of requirement…great invention…pity it gets used for the wrong purposes…" Draco said sitting on the crimson covered king size bed.

Pansy stood there for a while and almost jumped backwards seeing Draco getting up from the bed and heading towards her.

"I've got some good news…I've been accepted…" Draco said curving his lips in what looked like a smile, a real smile, not one of the usual smirks that deformed his gorgeous face.

"Where?" Pansy managed to ask.

Draco pulled his left sleeve up and turned his arm round as to show her the back of it. There, against the pure white of his skin, Pansy saw a black, skull shaped mark recognising it immediately. That was the Dark Mark. The mark that identified the Death Eaters.

"Draco…oh my…" Pansy exclaimed grabbing the back of an armchair firmly fearing her knees would not be able to support herself making her fall on the floor.

"Well…is that all you have to say?" Draco said looking like he was going to get angry again.

"No…I mean…Draco…isn't it too soon…I mean, you haven't even finished school…and…well…it's so dangerous…" Pansy said looking extremely concerned.

"Don't worry about it…it's not too soon either, my own Dad was a Death Eater before he finished his fifth year here. That's why I've done so much training this summer, I was preparing myself for the test. And now I've passed it, I'll be helping my parents and his friends from here…" Draco said proudly.

"But…why?" Pansy said regretting it immediately. Draco went all stiff and looked, if possible even more angry.

"Why? Are you blind? The Dark Lord needs all the help he can get…this time, I know we will defeat Dumbledore and his buffoon Saint Potter…and the Dark Arts will be strong again…I'm telling you Pansy and mark my words…we will win this war. The Dark Lord has promised great rewards to all the people who will help him…don't you get it?" Draco asked patronisingly.

"Yes…I do…but…" Pansy started saying.

"You surely don't look impressed…Pansy if I didn't know you as well as I do, I would think you're considering to join Saint Potter and his fanatics…" Draco said looking at her coldly.

"NO! Never…Draco, I will always be by your side…you know that…is just that…it's so dangerous…I don't want you to get hurt…" Pansy said putting one of her hands on his left arm just above the Dark Mark.

"Don't make me say it again Pansy…you are not to worry about this…I now know how to take care of myself…" Draco said putting his right hand over the one she had put on his arm stroking it lightly.

"What about our…arrangement…" Pansy said tentatively.

"That stays the same…if you stay by my side faithfully, help me with whatever I ask from you, I will keep protecting you and will ensure that your family is protected as well…you know that even from prison, my father still has a lot of influence…and, besides, he's already planning his escape…" Draco said moving his hand from over hers to her face.

"When will that be?" Pansy asked curiously while enjoying his touch.

"Soon…very soon…but now, enough talk…I've been looking forward this for eight weeks now…" Draco said pulling her towards him and giving her a kiss.

Pansy felt that even his kisses were different. Draco had actually matured a lot in the eight weeks they had been apart. This was quite appealing but, if Pansy had been concerned about Draco getting in something too big for him, now she was sick with worry.

Pansy would never say it aloud fearing, not so much her fellows Slytherin's reaction, but the possibility she may actually be right.

For, although she tried to convince herself of the opposite, she deep down knew that the Dark Lord was doomed. Even not being as intelligent as that mudblood Granger, Pansy was smart enough to see that Harry Potter's repeated victories against the Dark Lord were due to a lot more than sheer good luck and, after his godfather's death, Potter could only be even more determinate to vanquish the Dark Lord for good. With disastrous consequences to all his supporters, including the Malfoys and specially her own parents.

Pushing that terrifying thought out of her mind, Pansy forced herself to relax and enjoy Draco's company.

To be continued…

_A/N: Thank you for your reviews!! They really encourage me to do my best!! I'm trying not to overdo things since this is my very first HP fic and I really don't want to offend the more expert fans…I hope I get everything right! _


	5. Chapter Four

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Four_

"Wake up…we need to go back to our dorms…" Pansy opened her eyes and looked around herself. They were still in the Room of Requirement and she had fallen sleep right after their lovemaking session. The silvery light coming from the room's lone window told her that dawn was getting nearer.

"Sure…sorry I fell asleep…" Pansy said feeling truly ashamed and hoping her hair had not gone totally flat.

"Don't worry…you look quite nice while you're asleep anyway…" Draco said shocking Pansy with this unexpected compliment, then showing the Malfoy in him added "The best thing is, that when you're asleep, you're quiet…."

Then getting up, grabbed his trousers and shirt and started getting dressed. Pansy copied him and they headed straight down the dungeons where they went separate ways to their dorms.

Predictably enough, the most annoying of all Slytherin girls, Millicent Bulstrode, was waiting for her in their dorm.

"Pansy, Pansy…I see things never change…now, where exactly have you been? All night out of bed…that's not a very prefect-like behaviour, is it now?."

"Millicent, like I told you last year, I am the prefect here and I command you mind your own business or you'll be writing lines for me until you take your NEWT's…and if you try to report me…" Pansy said only to stop herself before it was too late.

"What will you do if I report you?" Millicent challenged.

"That's yet another thing it's none of your business…just mark my words, you don't want to mess with me…" Pansy said while collecting her beauty case, some fresh robes and a towel.

She then left the room again and made to the prefects' bathroom.

The rest of the weeks passed fairly quickly for Pansy, between the lessons, the prefects' patrols and the midnight meetings with Draco things were quite enjoyable at the moment making Pansy forget all about the angst that seemed to reign in her heart during the summer holidays.

Now, with the Quidditch practices, she was seeing Draco a bit less but it only meant that for once Pansy had time to do her homework properly. Since her OWL's had not been the best, she was trying her best to do well for the NEWT's subjects she had been admitted to.

She still had not chosen a career but that didn't matter much, she could always do as her mum and become a housewife.

"I cannot believe this, they've lifted the life-time ban off Potter and he's been re-admitted into the Gryffindor's house team…" said Draco one night talking to a group of Slytherin boys.

"Oh, don't worry Malfoy, you'll beat him for sure this year…he hasn't played for ages now…and, besides, you also have a Firebolt this year…" said one of them.

"Yeah, that's right…we'll be unbeatable now…" confirmed another one.

"Yes. You're right. Absolutely right, in fact. Well, guys…it's not that the company's not good but, right now I rather fancy something else…" Draco said suddenly getting up from his couch.

It took only a short glance for Pansy to understand that it was time for them to go to one of their 'patrols'.

She wasn't about to get paranoid but she could swear she heard some of the comments the guys were making, some being appreciative, some being just plain rude.

"Don't worry about them…they just wish they'd get some…" Draco said seeing Pansy's hurt face.

"Draco…" Pansy started saying before interrupting herself unsure that the blond would want to hear what she wanted to say.

"Yes? Carry on…you know I hate when you girls stop at mid-sentence…" Draco said sounding almost curious.

"Sorry…I…I just wanted to say that…you've changed quite a lot Draco…I mean…" Pansy finally said.

"I know…I've grown up too you know…I now see what my father has been trying to warn me about during all these years…" Draco said.

"And, what is it?" Pansy asked glad they were making conversation.

"I, of course, cannot tell you but, I will tell you that I have now set my priorities and I know that, in order to achieve something you've got to work hard for it. We're going to do that…for the cause…" Draco said so cryptically that it confused Pansy even more.

"Guess you know best…" Pansy said not wanting him to know that she had not understood a single thing.

"Of course I do…" Draco replied, then added, "Really Pansy, sometimes I think you haven't changed a single thing ever since first year…you've been far too spoiled…."

Pansy was going to say 'look who's talking' but chose not to for she knew better than provoke the blond man's fury.

They just carried on like this until Halloween. Pansy woke up that morning, strangely enough, in her own bed, with a funny feeling. After having a quick shower and cleaning her teeth, Pansy got dressed and headed up to the Great Hall for breakfast. It was Halloween and, following an ancient Hogwarts tradition, all years from third to seventh, were allowed to visit the village.

She had been planning to go with Draco but alas, the young man was nowhere to be seen. She headed towards the part of the Slytherin table occupied by his friends.

"Good morning Crabbe, have you seen Draco?" Pansy asked trying to be as polite as possible.

"Nope…has he finally managed to get rid of you?" Crabbe said sarcastically making everyone around to laugh out loud.

It was to be expected. Crabbe and Goyle, Draco's best friends, had not taken very well the fact that Draco seemed to spend almost all his free time with her. Something told Pansy that Crabbe knew a lot more than he pretended.

"I'll find him, don't worry…" Pansy said turning around to sit with her small group of friends. Not seeing Draco anywhere, Pansy decided to accept one of her friends' invitation to join them and the group headed to Hogsmeade where they spent sometime buying sweets, drinking Butter Beer and, their favourite pastime, criticising the Gryffindors.

They came back tired but happy. Pansy was still worried that she had not seen Draco so, before going to the Great Hall, she went down to the common room. There, she found two of Draco's friends, Igor Dolohov and Peter Avery talking, at first she thought of walking past them and pretend she was going to her room. Then, she heard Avery say her name and that made her stop and seek a good hiding place to eavesdrop the conversation.

"…have you seen her…she's still looking for him…if only she knew…" Avery carried on saying laughing.

"Do you think he'll be successful? It's his first mission, isn't it?" Dolohov asked a bit doubtful.

"It'll be a piece of cake…I heard the Dementors have joined forces with us…it won't be too hard to get everybody out of Azkaban…" Avery explained.

"Well, I hope he comes back in one piece…we've got the match against Gryffindor in two days time…" Dolohov added sounding a bit more confident.

Pansy had to press her hand to her mouth to stop herself from screaming. That was the reason why today she had not seen Draco at all. He had gone to Azkaban to rescue his father.

To be continued…

_A/N: Yeah, I know…another chapter up!! Is just that I'm in one of those periods that when I start typing I just can't stop!! Sorry… Ah, thanks again for your reviews…you guys are sooo sweeeet!! _

_You'll notice I have changed the last bit and I made up two people, they're supposed to be the sons of Dolohov and Avery two very famous Death Eaters. The reason of the change being that the two people that were originally speaking (Crabbe and Goyle) are indeed too thick to have such intelligent conversation. Thanks for pointing this out PoisonDraco and for making me notice I was spelling Hogwarts with a D. Oh my gosh, (Sanae blushing terribly for such silly mistake!!)._


	6. Chapter Five

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Five_

Being extra careful not to be seen, Pansy left the Slytherin common room a quietly as possible and not mattering the destination, the girl just started running trying to get away as soon as she could.

Now, after what seemed quite a long time running, blinded with her tears and almost choking for the unusual amount of exercise, she found that she had to stop.

Leaning against a random wall, she let her back slide against it and sat down on the cold stone bringing her knees to her chest and putting her face between them. It didn't matter how cold the stone floor was, too many thoughts in her head prevented her from feeling anything else but a sickening mix of fear, anger and angst.

'Why? Why didn't he tell me what he was going to do…' Pansy asked herself repeatedly. She was scared that something would happen to Draco, she didn't even want to imagine the amount of pain that losing Draco would cause to her.

Although she couldn't help being angry with Draco for his idiotic pride that made him behave so stupidly, she was a lot more angry with herself. Having allowed herself to believe things were going to be different this year had definitely not been a good idea. True, she still believed that this year things were going to drastically change but, the tranquillity that had reigned during the past few weeks had made her forget the imminent danger and she had been enjoying the bliss of having a good humoured Draco by her side.

Surprisingly and against all odds, Draco's predictable rage at having his father sent to prison had subdued considerably during the summer. Something had happened back there that had made Draco behave in a very un-Malfoy way.

To start with, they had stopped their 'duels', the official excuse being that Draco believed himself to be in a much superior position now and didn't find it useful anymore. The real reason, at least that was what Pansy hoped, was that Draco didn't want to hurt her anymore.

Then, the way Draco made love to her was a lot different this year. He was a lot more generous and was willing to give as much as he took.

The truth was that Pansy had allowed herself to secretly hold the romantic notion that Draco was in fact beginning to care about her.

This thought made her even more upset since, if something happened to Draco in his attempt to rescue his father, Pansy would never have the chance to see if her hopes were based on facts or she was merely daydreaming.

She was so distraught with her trail of thoughts that she failed to notice three people walking towards her.

"What the…hey, are you ok?" she heard a familiar voice ask. Pansy had to think very hard in order to match the voice with a face. After wiping the tears off her eyes, Pansy lifted her face from between her knees and found herself staring at none other than Hermoine Granger, standing next to her there was a red head, obviously a Weasley, and one step behind them, the famous Harry Potter.

"YOU!!!" Hermoine exclaimed half disbelievingly, half disgusted, Pansy didn't blame her in the slightest, she couldn't remember a single time that she had spoken to the Gryffindor girl without either insulting her or making fun of her.

"What's going on…what are you doing here?" Weasley asked every bit as disgusted to find her there.

"I…I'm sorry…I'll leave now…I…" Pansy said getting up from the floor. She was about to start walking when Harry's voice made her stop.

"What exactly was a Slytherin like you doing in front of the Gryffindor's common room's entrance?."

Turning around slowly hoping the corridor's dim light would conceal her red eyes, Pansy realised she was indeed in the Gryffindor's area of the castle.

"I…got…I got lost…I'm going to…yeah…I'll go back to my common room…" Pansy said hoping they would drop it there.

"Yeah right…like we're going to believe that…" Ron snorted causing Hermoine to look at him a bit disapprovingly but understanding at the same time.

"I was actually looking for you…before the feast we had a meeting with all the prefects and our two Slytherin representatives were missing. I've found you now but…where is Malfoy?" Hermoine asked.

"I…I don't know…" Pansy lied beginning to regret her own stupidity and damning the misfortune that had led her to this specific area of the castle.

"You're lying…you're covering him up for something…aren't you?" Harry said looking at her suspiciously.

"I…no…I really don't know…" Pansy said getting desperate, now she was on her own, without any of her friends and most importantly, without Draco there to back her up.

The three Gryffindors just stood there staring at her. Pansy made it to her wand's handle and was desperately trying to find a useful spell that would get her out of this situation when Ron, seeing what she was doing and pulling his own wand out of his robes, said:

"Don't even dream of it…."

Hermoine and Harry realised what was happening and pulled their own wands out as well.

"Not so brave now that you haven't got any of your friends around, are you?" Hermoine said amused.

Pansy, realising the huge mistake she'd just made, left her wand inside her robes and put her hands up terrified of what the famous trio may want to do to her.

"Just tell us where Malfoy is and we'll leave you alone…" Harry asked not really wanting to carry on such uneven confrontation, Harry, being Harry, much preferred confronting an enemy of his own size rather than attacking a weak, silly, outnumbered girl.

Pansy chose this time not to even reply. She was just too scared to speak.

"Whatever…we'll find out sooner or later…" Harry replied impatiently seeing that the girl was not going to speak. Then motioned his two friends towards the painting that covered their common room's entrance.

He was about to whisper the password not wanting Pansy to hear it when Neville came towards them running and obviously out of breath.

"Ha…Ha…huff!" Neville gasped trying to get all the air back to his lungs at the same time than trying to deliver what it looked like a very important message.

"Neville…just take your time…otherwise you're going to collapse on us!" Ron said impatiently.

"Azkaban…they've attacked Azkaban…they've tried to free all the prisoners!" Neville said his voice just above a whisper, then added a bit louder, noticing for the first time the Slytherin girl still standing there, "The guards and the Aurors stationed there have managed to get some of them…the Death Eaters have lost one of them…I don't know who though…."

Pansy let out a scream and started running again back to the Slytherin common room not even giving time to any of the four Gryffindors to stop her.

To be continued…


	7. Chapter Six

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Six_

Pansy had no recollection of how she had reached her bedroom. All she knew is that she was now laying in a foetal position on her bed, all the curtains around it drawn as to prevent anyone from peeking inside.

She had not even stopped to hear the entire conversation, she didn't need to, didn't want to hear it. She was absolutely certain that the Death Eater that had gone down was Draco. Her Draco. And knowing this was killing her. An excruciating pain was irradiating from her heart reaching her entire body. Breathing itself was no longer a priority. She needed to get rid of the pain that was slowly driving her insane.

She must have cried herself to sleep because she opened her eyes hearing her roommates' racket that announced a new day had started.

"Come on Pansy…wake up, you'll be late!" she heard Sonia's voice calling from outside the curtains.

Pansy tried to reply but her throat refused to make any sound. It was so dry that unless she got some water, Pansy thought it would be impossible to utter a single word.

"Pansy? Are you alright?" Sonia insisted not hearing a reply.

Pansy, fearing that the girl would poke her head through the curtains, decided to get up and try to dash to the bathroom hoping to attract as little attention as possible.

Her attempt, naturally, failed and Sonia, seeing Pansy come out of her bed fully dressed, grabbed her by one of her arms and turned her around.

"What the…" Sonia started but, looking at Pansy's face, particularly Pansy's extremely swollen, puffy eyes, said "What happened? Has Malfoy ditched you?."

Pansy would have laughed if Sonia's comment had not brought back all the pain from the previous night. 'Ditched? No, he went and got himself killed not giving a toss about me nor my feelings' Pansy wanted to say but, instead, she just managed to nod.

"You mustn't blame yourself…Malfoy is way too sexy and popular to be with a girl for too long…you'll get over it…" Sonia said making Pansy smile weakly.

'If that is the way you want to help me, you're doing a very poor job at it…' Pansy thought, then finally trusting her throat to produce some sound, she said:

"Yeah…sure…" then, removing her arm off Sonia's grasp, she turned around and made it to the bathroom.

She didn't really feel like going to any of the lessons but, knowing that it would look suspicious if she didn't, she decided to make it to the Great Hall and behave as normally as possible.

She was about to start eating when she saw Professor Snape get up from the staff table and walk towards her.

"Miss Parkinson, come to my office as soon as you've finished your breakfast…" he said and, not waiting for an answer kept walking to the Great Hall's main door.

Pansy almost suffocated herself with the piece of toast she was eating. This could only mean one thing. They wanted to confirm that Draco was dead.

Pansy dropped the toast and drank some pumpkin juice as quickly as possible then, grabbing her bag, walked as fast as she could without running trying to catch up with Snape.

"Professor…professor…" Pansy said now almost running seeing the black back of the Slytherin House's head.

"Miss Parkinson, I thought I had been quite clear that you were to come to my office AFTER breakfast" Professor Snape said not even bothering to hide his surprise at seeing her already there.

"But I…I've finished…I…" Pansy stuttered like she always did when she was nervous.

"Oh…never mind…we've got to go somewhere else anyway…follow me…" Professor Snape said impatiently reassuming to walk.

Pansy followed him shocked when she saw they were leaving the dungeon's entrance behind and started to climb the marble stairs behind Professor Snape.

Finally they stopped in front of a statue and Snape muttered something that was not loud enough for her to hear it. Whatever it was, it caused the statue to move up and reveal some steps.

"Go on…follow me…" Professor Snape said while climbing the steps that had replaced the statue.

Pansy was puzzled, she had never been to that area of the castle and was about to ask where they were when Snape, turning round, said:

"Professor Dumbledore is waiting for you in his office, just through that door…."

Pansy followed the finger that was pointing an ancient looking door. Finally, Pansy managed to ask:

"What have I done?."

Professor Snape snorted and said:

"Nothing, yet…."

"Then, why…" Pansy insisted.

"You'll see…now, go inside…" Snape said obviously beginning to get annoyed.

Pansy, fearing Snape's fury like almost everyone in the school, didn't say anything else and knocked on the door.

"Come in" Pansy heard Professor Dumbledore's voice say.

Pansy entered the room and was shocked to see Harry, Hermoine and Ron there.

"Oh, take a seat Miss Parkinson…" Dumbledore said conjuring a chair out of nothing.

Pansy sat down and, before she could say anything, Dumbledore said:

"I hear from Mr Potter here present that you had a very…peculiar reaction…when you heard the Death Eaters had suffered a loss when they managed to free the prisoners we had secured in Azkaban…is there something you'd like to share with us, Miss Parkinson?."

Pansy's shocked increased when she heard this. She should have known better than to think the trio would have left it alone. She thought of lying but she knew better than to try to lie to Dumbledore. In any case, she didn't know what else to do so she said:

"I don't know what you're talking about…."

"She's lying…" Hermoine said accusingly.

"I know…Miss Parkinson…I know Mr Malfoy has been missing since the night before Halloween. I also happen to know that you and Mr Malfoy have been…involved in an intimate liaison…I find it hard to believe you cannot tell us where he is…" Dumbledore said matter-of-factly.

To be continued…

_A/N: Thanks for all your reviews!! I hope I'll keep this up to your standards…I've decided to keep the chapters short so I can update more frequently. __Thanks__ again, you're great! _


	8. Chapter Seven

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Seven_

Pansy considered for a brief, crazy moment the possibility of running away from the office. It took her a couple of seconds to realise that, even if she could figure out how to get out of there, she was sure that she had as many chances of success as she had of becoming the next Minister for Magic.

Finally, looking down to the floor, Pansy decided to give up and with the smallest voice said:

"It doesn't matter anymore…".

"What?" Hermoine asked.

Pansy lifted her head and, looking straight at Dumbledore, repeated:

"I said it doesn't matter anymore…Draco is dead now…".

Voicing it had been even worse than thinking about it. Now it was definite. Pansy felt the familiar knot coming up her throat threatening to choke her. Now, more than ever, she wanted to be alone in the darkness of her room in her parents house.

"What are you talking about Miss Parkinson?" she heard Dumbledore's voice say from what seemed a huge distance.

Pansy looked around herself and saw the looks that her three fellow students were giving her. Harry was surprised and Ron was just confused. It was the way that Hermoine was looking at her that was most disturbing, a mix of disgust and…pity. Hermoine Granger pitied her. Pansy thought it was way too unbearable to hold her gaze and decided to return her attention to the floor.

"Parkinson, Professor Dumbledore asked you a question…" she heard Harry say.

Pansy, suddenly remembering the old professor, looked up once more and repeated:

"Longbottom said that…there had been a loss…you know… in the prison's attack…"Pansy said and then, as if realising the full impact of her own words and the revelation she had just made, brought her left hand and covered her mouth with it as if trying to prevent any further information to come out of it.

"I knew it!! I just knew it!! He's involved Professor…I knew it!!" Hermoine exclaimed suddenly raising her voice as much as she could without shouting.

Pansy felt even more trapped. Then, something finally registered in her head.

"Sir, are you saying you know who died?" Pansy asked Dumbledore.

"No Miss Parkinson, we don't know who died but we most certainly know it wasn't Mr Malfoy nor Mr Malfoy senior for that matter…all we know is that none of our Aurors killed anyone. The Death Eater who died last night was killed by one of their own…" Dumbledore said while carefully searching for any reaction coming from the Slytherin girl.

"Sir…are you quite sure of that, I mean…how do you…" Pansy began to ask but was interrupted by Dumbledore.

"We collected the Death Eater's body and we're trying to identify him. We are certain it's not Mr Malfoy though…".

Dumbledore went quiet for a few moments as if trying to give Pansy some time to process the information. Then he let his blue eyes wander around the room locking them briefly with Harry's before saying:

"Miss Parkinson, I'm already sure of it but, I'd like to hear it directly from you…was Mr Draco Malfoy involved in the attack?".

Pansy remained silent for a couple of seconds before looking back at Dumbledore. Seeing it was useless now to lie, she nodded.

"What exactly was Mr Malfoy doing there?" Dumbledore insisted.

"He's…" Pansy started saying but got interrupted by Hermoine.

"He's a Death Eater, isn't he?".

"Miss Granger..." warned Dumbledore causing Hermoine to blush and to get suddenly very interested with one of her shoes.

"Miss Parkinson, is Miss Granger right?" Dumbledore asked.

"YES! He's a Death Eater…and I'm very proud of that…" Pansy suddenly exclaimed causing Hermoine to look back at Pansy shocked at the Slytherin's daring.

"Are you really?" Professor Dumbledore asked obviously not believing Pansy's affirmation.

Pansy remained silent again pondering whether she was actually proud of the fact that Draco had sold his soul to the Dark Lord. Ultimately, she decided that she was more scared for him than anything but she wasn't going to give the three Gryffindors nor Professor Dumbledore the satisfaction of knowing this.

"Yes…of course I am…" she said trying to convey to her voice as much conviction as possible.

"Well…then…Miss Parkinson, I would only like to ask one more thing of you…" Professor Dumbledore said ignoring the inquisitive looks the three Gryffindors were giving to him.

"What is it?" Pansy asked hoping this would soon be over and she would be allowed to go back to her room.

"I would like to ask that you report to me everything you may find…odd…regarding Mr Malfoy's behaviour…" Dumbledore replied.

"Are you…sir…are you… asking me to…to spy on Draco?" Pansy said so shocked she wondered how she had actually managed to formulate the question.

"No, no…by any means…I am just merely asking you to perform your duty as the school prefect that you are…only that I would like you to dedicate a bit more attention to Mr Malfoy's activities…" Dumbledore said provoking Hermoine and Ron to smile, smiles that were quickly removed from their face as Dumbledore looked at them both.

"But…" Pansy started.

"I don't need to remind you that both you and Mr Malfoy are still on probation as school prefects after…last year's events…and you should find this a great opportunity to show to me that your loyalty is to the school first…" Dumbledore said with such a neutral tone of voice that it was hard to understand whether the whole thing was a threat or a mere reminder.

Pansy was utterly astonished and horribly embarrassed that Granger and Weasley had found out about hers and Draco's precarious status as school prefects. She looked to the floor for the umpteenth time when Dumbledore said:

"So, can we count on your collaboration for this…delicate affair? I trust you will inform me of everything regarding Mr Malfoy…to start with, I'd like to know as soon as he's back and…if he says anything to you…I'd like to hear about it too…".

Pansy could only nod. She really had no option but to accept. For now. She had to think of a way to get away of this situation, only that now was neither the time nor the place to refuse.

To be continued…

_A/N: So, Draco is not dead, I apologise to everyone that was thinking of getting the champagne out to celebrate!! I would also like to apologise for the two cliffhangers from the previous chapters…I don't like them myself is just that right now the story needs a bit of suspense… __Thanks__ again for all the reviews…you're great people!!!_


	9. Chapter Eight

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Eight_

Going through the day's lesson was something close to a nightmare. Pansy kept staring at the classroom's door hoping that it would open to let Draco in the class.

"Miss Parkinson, what, exactly, do you find so amusing about that poor door?."

Professor Flitwick's kind voice startled her. She looked down from her desk and saw the tiny professor looking at her a bit irritated.

"No…nothing…I'm…I'm sorry…" Pansy replied feeling herself blush.

"Alright then…I hope you can reward us with your attention from now on…" the head of Ravenclaw said almost sarcastically.

This caused the rest of the class to look up from their exercises to stare at them, they weren't used to see Flitwick, usually kind and easygoing, speak to any student in such manner.

After a quick lunch, she headed with a few other Slytherins to the dungeons to have their Double Potions lesson. 'At last a quiet lesson' Pansy thought for it was well known that Professor Snape had always had a soft spot for the students of his own house.

In any case, Pansy thought well to apply herself to the lesson so she would stay out of trouble. Every now and then, she gave quick glances at Potter and Granger who were busy making the universal antidote that had been assigned to them by Snape.

"Be careful!" Sonia whispered to her and Pansy saw that she was about to put in their cauldron a pinch of belladonna powder that would have made their potion totally poisonous.

"Sorry!" Pansy whispered back.

"It's alright…I know you're probably…" but what she was she never found out for at that precise instant, the dungeons door opened to let Draco Malfoy in.

Pansy's heart did a triple somersault. She felt about to faint and grabbed the edge of the table trying to prevent herself from falling on the floor. She heard Sonia gasp and felt the girl's gaze on her.

Pansy looked at Draco, he had a very nasty cut just over his eyebrow and was limping quite obviously. His eyes were back to being as cold as ice and his ever present smirk had been replaced by a fine line placed where his lips were supposed to be.

Whatever had happened to him, it hadn't been pleasant. Pansy was too scared to keep looking at him so she lowered her eyes, pretending to find the contents of her cauldron to be the most fascinating thing in the world.

"Professor…I'm sorry I'm late…" she hear Draco say.

Snape, as usual, didn't say anything to Draco, just pointed at the table in front of him where two other Slytherins were working. Draco just moved to that table and started emptying his bag looking for the potions book.

"Settle down…and keep working, we'll test a few of this potions at the end of the lesson…" Snape said looking at Harry and Hermoine as if challenging them to say anything. The two Gryffindors, choose very smartly to stay quiet and kept working. Hermoine, though, as soon as she was sure that Snape's attention had been diverted by something else, looked quickly at Pansy. The Slytherin girl caught that look and was surprised at what she saw in it: curiosity.

Pansy then broke the eye contact and moved her eyes to look at Draco. He appeared to be busy catching up with the class' work and showed no intentions of wanting to look at her.

Pansy didn't know what to think.

"Pansy…come on…we've got to finish this…" Sonia called.

"Sorry…I…" Pansy started.

"What happened to him? Did he get into a fight or…" Sonia started saying but she interrupted herself when Snape came to their table and enquired after their work.

The lesson, from that moment, dragged itself so slowly that Pansy thought it would never finish so when it finally did, Pansy put everything away as fast as she could so she could go to talk to Draco.

Alas, when she came back from washing her hands, Draco was nowhere to be seen and nor was Professor Snape.

"They left together…to Snape's office…" Sonia said seeing Pansy looking out for the blond Slytherin.

"Ah…alright…" Pansy said trying to hide her disappointment but failing miserably.

They headed to the Great Hall for dinner where Pansy hoped to see Draco again. Unfortunately he didn't turn up for the evening meal and Pansy had to go back to the common room without seeing him.

Half way to the dungeons' entrance, Hermoine Granger grabbed her by the arm and said to her in a whisper:

"Parkinson, I know that what Professor Dumbledore asked you is difficult but…it is necessary you do as you're told…just be careful and don't do anything silly…."

Pansy, not wanting to show her shock at Hermoine's kind words, removed her arm from the Gryffindor's grasp and said as malignly as possible:

"As if you cared…."

"Actually I do…and I understand that your position is not the easiest…" Hermoine said before walking away.

Still puzzled by this, Pansy reassumed her pace. She had almost reached the entrance of the common room when she felt someone grab her arm again.

"What…" she started saying.

"Come with me…we need to talk…in private" turning round, Pansy saw Draco's face.

Not sharing a further word, Pansy started walking after him. Instead of heading to the Room of Requirement, they were heading somewhere deep down the castle, even past Snape's office that was believed to be located at lowest floor in the dungeon.

Finally they stopped in front of a room and Draco, opening the door, asked her to go inside. There was a fairly small room with a two armchairs facing a lit fireplace.

"Sit down…" Draco ordered while seating himself on one of the armchairs.

Sitting down, Pansy looked at Draco's face more carefully now, she realised that Snape must have healed him somehow for the nasty cut above his eyebrow as now forming a very thin pinkish line that wouldn't be deep enough to leave a scar.

"Why didn't you tell me…" Pansy asked trying not to sound too nagging.

"What have you been talking to Granger about?" Draco asked not answering her question.

Pansy looked down on the floor not knowing what to reply.

To be continued…


	10. Chapter Nine

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Nine_

"Pansy…I asked you a question…" Draco said harshly.

Pansy looked up and stared at the fireplace forcing her mind to think as fast as possible. Then, very slowly as if trying to buy herself some extra time, asked:

"What do you mean?."

"I came out of Snape's office, looking out for you and I see you speaking to that disgusting girl and to my surprise I hear from her that you're supposed to be doing something for Dumbledore and there she goes giving you unsolicited advise…and I'm just wondering: what is it that a Slytherin should be doing for that traitor of a wizard and why should she be taking advise from a mudblood? Can you, my little Pansy, tell me why is that?" Draco was saying this while playing with a knife he had removed from somewhere inside his robes.

Pansy looked up at his face and found he was looking at her in a way that made her insides freeze. Then, as if her mind had suddenly remembered how to work, started saying:

"Ah…that…yes…well, Dumbledore…he…he reminded me of our probation period and…he asked me to keep an eye…on things…in general…you know, now that…you know…well…he said he would give us full prefect status if we 'behaved'…."

"I understand…but, how did Granger found out about the probation?" Draco said interrupting her.

"I don't know…Dumbledore must have told her…you know how he tells them everything…" she lied, "She was just reminding me of it, earlier on…I guess she was just being friendly…" she said knowing that it happening, was as likely as Draco switching to Gryffindor for next year.

Draco looked at her lifting his eyebrows disbelievingly. Then, after a few seconds thinking, as if he was choosing the words carefully, said:

"Alright…never mind…I just wanted to make sure you don't go around liaising with the wrong people…I couldn't allow that, you know…" Draco said grabbing Pansy's arm pulling her towards him and forcing her to sit on his lap. Then, he started playing with the tip of his knife 'caressing' with it the side of Pansy's face going all the way down her neck then going up again and placing the blade under her chin.

"Of course not…" Pansy muttered with the smallest voice beginning to tremble…

"Right, now that we've settled this…I've got a favour to ask you…my father has big plans…very big plans…but, for them to work we need to know all the actions taken against our lord…and, since the mudblood is being so friendly to you…, I guess it wouldn't be too difficult for you to…you know…report anything you may see to me…I will ensure that it gets reported directly to the right people…" Draco said.

Pansy was utterly shocked. She still felt the cold metal of the knife against her skin just below her chin and was beginning to get increasingly nervous.

"O…ok…" Pansy muttered with a very shaky voice now almost going mad with fear.

Her reply seemed to please Draco for he then removed the blade from her chin and, folding the knife, put it back inside his robes.

"Good girl, now, what were you saying?" Draco said tracing with a finger the same path he had followed with the knife making her shiver…this time with a mix of pleasure and fear.

"I…wanted to know…why didn't you tell me about…you know…your mission…" Pansy preparing herself for his anger, in case her curiosity made him mad at her.

He stopped touching her with his finger and made her turn to face him.

"Well…I just thought you would get hysterical and would overreact…I didn't need that…besides, I didn't even tell Crabbe and Goyle…what does it make you think I would tell you?" Draco said so coldly it made Pansy wince.

She wanted to scream 'because you have sex with me and they don't' but she just said, "Why didn't you tell them?", she was also trying to ignore the fact that she had just been put at the same level than those two brainless people.

"Because they're too thick to understand anything and because they would want to know how come they haven't been made Death Eaters as well…and I'm just not prepared to explain that to them just yet…" Draco said sincerely.

"Ah…and why is that?" Pansy asked hoping to sound casual.

"Father has told me that Crabbe senior's loyalty has been…a bit erratic, lately and since he's best friends with Goyle senior, Father has decided to test their loyalties first before allowing their sons to join in…" Draco explained then, as if he had just thought about it, he asked "Wait a second, how did you find out about the attack?."

"I…Longbottom came running while I was…uh…leaving the library…Granger was there with Potter and Weasley and…I overheard him saying it… I heard from Avery and Dolohov that you were involved…" Pansy explained trying to sound as convincing as possible.

"Alright…Avery and Dolohov…they're sure going to pass their test…their parents are vouching for them quite strongly…so, they will be joining me in the junior division…I'm only happy that I passed the test before they have…they'll have to respect me for that…" Draco said, smirking.

"Ah…I'm happy for you too…" Pansy said, hoping he would not say anything else…she had already found out too much that night and…she just didn't know yet whether she wanted to comply with Dumbledore's orders.

Draco sensed she was deep in thought and said:

"What are you thinking about?."

"Nothing…I was just…how did you get hurt? I mean…earlier, when you came in during Potions, I saw you had a cut and you were limping…" Pansy said not totally lying.

"Well, I got trapped with a couple of prison guards and it took a while until Father could send someone to help me…he went ballistic that the others had left me alone in my first mission…" Draco said touching the area above his eyebrow, then he added "Thankfully, Snape has given me a potion and has performed a healing charm so I won't have a souvenir like Potter's, I would hate having a scar like his…" Draco said laughing evilly.

"That's good…I love your face as it is…" Pansy said and, realising what she had said, she blushed to a deep shade of pink.

That made Draco laugh even more.

"Ah…my poor Pansy…you just love me too much…don't you?" Draco said with an almost pitiful tone of voice.

Pansy felt even more self conscious due to the fact that she was still sitting on Draco's lap. Then, trying to steer the conversation to safer grounds, she asked:

"What about the Dementors…were they there?."

"No…they've all gone to the Dark Lord…it was only us…the Dark Lord seems to be preparing something with them so he needed them…" Draco said then, he added "Now, enough talk…I think that, after the fight, I deserve to relax a bit…don't you think?."

Then, not waiting for her answer, kissed her on her lips. After a while, he lifted her body in his arms and placed her with her back on the rug in front of the fireplace. Draco opened her legs and placed himself in between them and said:

 "This is where I belong…."

Pansy silently agreed.

To be continued…

_A/N I've changed the rating since I realised I may get a bit raunchy…I hope no one gets too offended although I promise I will not be gratuitous… __Thanks__ again for all the reviews!!_


	11. Chapter Ten

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Ten_

Pansy woke up on her bed surprised to find herself there. Then, she remembered that Draco hadn't allowed her to fall asleep the previous night reminding her about his Quidditch match versus Gryffindor.

While the rest of her roommates were sleeping, Pansy had a shower and got dressed. Then she decided to head to the Great Hall to have a very early breakfast. Not surprisingly, being so early in the morning, the Great Hall was almost empty. Only a couple of Hufflepuffs, three Ravenclaws were there. In the Gryffindor table, Pansy saw Harry Potter sitting alone having breakfast.

He didn't even look at Pansy when she walked by heading to her table. She sat down and was about to butter a piece of toast when she started thinking about her conversation with Draco. Although she didn't want to tell everything to Dumbledore, she knew that she had to say at least something to the Headmaster if she didn't want to appear to be in the wrong side.

Pansy knew well what it meant to be a Slytherin nowadays, her house had been in trouble ever since the Ministry had acknowledged the return of the Dark Lord and whereas Harry Potter's hero status had been reinstated and now Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs and specially all Gryffindors adored him, almost half of the Slytherin had found themselves emarginated due to their relations with presumed Death Eaters.

Pansy was actually one of fortunate ones. She had always been quite popular and her group of friends were still loyal to her. Her parents' non-Death Eater status allowed her to still appear as a respectable member of the school, even though she had made a huge mistake joining the Inquisitorial Squad the year before. It was just lucky that she had not been involved in the whole incident that ended with Umbridge being taken away by the centaurs.

In any case, things were not so easy for the Slytherins at the moment and Pansy just hoped things would go back to normal as soon as possible.

Slowly, and making sure no one was watching her, and even more important, that no one from the Slytherin house was there, Pansy got up from her seat and walked quickly towards Harry. Even though it seemed a bit paranoid, she decided to take every precaution possible in case she was seen and, when she passed by Harry, she dropped the latest edition of Witch Weekly that she was carrying so she had to crouch right next to him.

He looked a bit startled when he turned around to see the source of the noise but, before he could say anything, Pansy whispered as low as possible:

"Tell Dumbledore I've heard from Draco that You-Know-Who is preparing an attack with the Dementors...It's all I know so don't ask me anything else...."

Then before Harry could even register what she had said, she grabbed the magazine and left the Great Hall looking around herself hoping no one had seen her.

A few hours after, the whole school was heading towards the Quidditch pitch, Pansy included; she surrounded herself with her group of friends just in case Potter or any of his friends decided to ignore her request and tried talking to her.

Finally, after everyone had taken their seats around the pitch, a seventh year called Lee Jordan, started with the commentary.

"Good morning everyone, this is Lee Jordan for the first, most interesting match of the season, the great, twice in a row and current Quidditch Cup holder, Gryffindor versus...er...yeah, Slytherin...."

Pansy saw both teams coming out to the pitch while their names were announced. Draco was the first one to come out and Pansy felt a wave of pride, seeing him flying around the pitch with his brand new Firebolt. She also saw Potter's shock, caused by the fact that the Gryffindor probably hadn't known anything about Draco's newest purchase.

The match started with Gryffindor scoring, unfortunately for Slytherin, the Gryffindor's keeper, Ron Weasley, had greatly improved over the summer and it was really difficult for any of the three chasers to get passed him.

In addition to this, Ginny Weasley was now one of the chasers and, being small as she was, she slipped passed most players and was able to score the first thirty points of the match.

Pansy saw Draco and Harry looking for the snitch. Finally, Slytherin opened their score count when Ron had been forced to take a dive to avoid one of the bludgers.

The game became rougher after that. Slytherin had come near scoring again when, suddenly, Pansy saw Madam Hooch flying up from the ground whistling with her magically enhanced golden whistle, doing something that no one had ever been heard of: stopping a Quidditch match.

"All students must head back to the castle immediately. The match must be postponed to a date to be confirmed. Everyone move NOW!."

Professor Dumbledore's voice, enhanced with the 'sonorus' charm, reverberated through the pitch. Pansy looked around herself to see whether anyone was actually moving. It looked like everyone had had the same thought as her because it took a couple of seconds before none of them actually stood and started running towards the stairs that led all the way down from the grandstands.

There, some teachers were meeting the students and started organising the unprecedented evacuation of the pitch.

"What's going on?" Pansy heard Sonia asking her.

"I don't know, but it mustn't be good...I've never seen a Quidditch match being interrupted before..." Pansy replied.

"Come on, hurry up..." Pansy said to a group of first and second years that were in front of them.

Finally, all the students were gathered in the Great Hall and, after a while, were joined by Professor Dumbledore and the rest of the staff.

"I'm sorry everyone, you are to stay here for at least until we deem it is safe for you to go back to the grounds...all the teachers will come with me. The Head Boy and Girl will be in charge and I expect all prefects to cooperate with them..." Professor Dumbledore said stepping up the stand in front of the staff table.

"Professor, what's going on?" asked one seventh year Ravenclaw.

"We are being attacked...but, do not concern yourselves...we have already asked the Ministry for help..." with this, Professor Dumbledore stepped down and started walking along the Gryffindor's table. He stopped briefly by Potter's side and whispered something to him. Whatever it was, it made him get up and say something to Granger and Weasley, then Potter started following Dumbledore outside the Great Hall.

As soon as the professors, with Potter, had left the Hall, everyone started talking to each other and the noise they all made was almost deafening.

Soon, the Head Boy and Girl had their hands full trying to quiet everyone.

Pansy saw Draco walking towards her with his trademark smirk. He took her by one of her hands and pulled her with him towards one of the Hall's wall.

"Look up..." he said pointing one of the window with his free hand.

The girl looked up through the windows and saw the reason of the commotion. An entire army of black, floating Dementors was closing around Hogwarts…

To be continued...

_A/n: Sorry it took so long…been a bit busy…I will try my best to post the next chapter tomorrow…I hope you're still enjoying this and, thanks everyone for your reviews!!! __You're lovely people!_


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Eleven_

Pansy nearly fainted seeing the Dementors through the window. There were so many of them and they were floating so close to each other that all the sunlight had been completely blacked out making it look like if it was midnight instead of midday.

"What are we going to do?" Pansy asked finally finding her voice.

Draco seemed to think about it for a while. He was looking concerned. Then, bending down to her he whispered:

"I think the Dark Lord is getting desperate…using the Dementors to attack Potter and Dumbledore…it's just crazy…."

Then, Draco said in a louder than necessary voice, obviously wanting to be overheard:

"Well, this is just sweet, see how Dumbledore copes with this…he must be getting desperate having to ask Potter for help…."

This comment caused some Slytherin to smile while the Gryffindors glared at him.

Draco looked at Pansy and although his smirk was firmly planted on his face, she could have sworn she had seen him wink briefly at her.

Then the blond Slytherin walked towards their house table and sat down between Goyle and Crabbe starting an animated conversation with them.

Pansy looked around the Great Hall and saw that each student was dealing with the situation in a different manner: some were talking nervously trying to guess what was going on outside, others were just pretending nothing extraordinary was happening and were just studying or playing some game. A few of the students were constantly asking the Head Boy and Girl for updates on the situation.

Granger and Weasley had gathered a few of the students around and were whispering instructions at them. Pansy guessed they were members of the famous DA group founded the previous year to fight against the Ministry and Umbridge.

By the looks of it, not only the DA still existed but they no longer had to operate clandestinely. They probably counted with some of the staff's support which probably meant that they were pretty well organised now.

Pansy was trying to decide what to do herself when she heard a huge thud coming from somewhere outside the Great Hall.

All the students went suddenly very quiet, all wanting to find out what the noise had been but no one being brave or stupid enough to actually open the door.

Another thud, this time louder and closer reverberated through the Great Hall's main door.

Pansy looked at Draco who had gone even paler than he was.

Then, something banged against the door making it shake so hard the students thought it would give in, after that, they heard some voices screaming the patronus charm at the top of their lungs.

A white light filtered through the space between the door and the floor, after that, everything went quiet.

The main door opened to let Harry Potter in, he was sweating profusely, holding his wand fiercely and with a very determinate look in his green eyes started looking around the Great Hall, probably searching Granger and Weasley.

Everyone thought they had been saved when one of the side doors flew open and three enormous Dementors came into the Great Hall causing everyone, including Pansy, to scramble desperately trying to reach whichever exit was nearer.

"EVERYONE RUN TO YOUR COMMON ROOMS AND LOCK YOURSELVES IN THEM!!" Potter shouted suddenly, then, having finally located Granger and Weasley, ran towards them.

Pansy saw Potter saying something to a very frightened Granger while Weasley was looking desperate to leave the room when a scream made Pansy stop and look back.

A Dementor was holding back some students and had them trapped in a corner. Pansy saw from their robes that they were from her own house, then she saw the white blond head that could only belong to one person: Draco was there, with Crabbe and Goyle. They had tried to leave using one of the side doors but the Dementor had been faster.

Harry didn't think twice, he walked towards the Dementor and shouted:

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!!!."

A huge silvery stag came out his wand emanating white, cyclical waves that not only drove away the Dementor that was about to attack the Slytherins but also the other two that were in the room.

Then, not even stopping to thank Potter, Draco and his friends opened the door and disappeared from sight.

"Come on…we have to go to our common room…the Dementors are in the castle…" Pansy heard Potter say while she reassumed her race towards the Slytherin common room.

Finally, all the students were safely locked up in their common rooms. These rooms were better protected than the Great Hall since each of them had very powerful anti-incursion charms placed in their entrance.

Pansy was still a bit shocked having witnessed something she thought impossible. Harry Potter had just saved Draco's life…of all people…

"He must really think he's a superhero…saving us and all…he's such a stupid big head…" Pansy heard one of the students that had been trapped by the Dementor say.

"SHUT UP!!" Draco shouted startling everyone, "You'd be worse than dead if it hadn't been for Potter…."

Everyone in the common room went quiet…Draco Malfoy had just publicly defended his worst enemy. This was good enough to make it the front page in the Daily Prophet.

Draco sat down grabbed a book and started reading, totally ignoring the fact that the entire common room, Pansy included, was staring at him open-mouthed.

Pansy finally managed to get over the shock and walked towards Draco. Then, sitting next to him, said in a whisper:

"Draco?" just asked not really knowing what else to say.

"This is just going to speed things up…when Father will hear that the Dementors have attacked me…he's not going to wait for much longer…As soon as this is over I'm going to need your help for something…" Draco said getting up again and heading to his dorm leaving Pansy even more startled.

To be continued…

_A/N: Just as promised: another chapter…I'm so happy you're liking this little thing…I hope I'll be able to post some more very soon…maybe tomorrow or the day after…till then, take care_


	13. Chapter Twelve

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Twelve_

The battle lasted well into the night, at some point, the Dementors were almost winning the fight, mostly due to the fact that they outnumbered the staff to such an extent that Dumbledore and company found themselves surrounded by them most of the time.

They reached a turning point when the Aurors from the Ministry finally reached Hogwarts sometime in the early evening. After that, the Dementors were driven away with a relative ease.

Harry was left in charge of the Gryffindor Tower while the teachers were clearing up other parts of the castle.

At some point during the night, all students were called to gather in the Great Hall for an emergency meeting.

As soon as everyone was assembled in the castle's main room, Professor Dumbledore started to speak:

"Tonight something unexpected and unfortunate has happened. The Dementors' attack has been a clear declaration of war by the Dark Forces and we find ourselves in the need to take some measures to prevent these kind of things from happening again…as you all know, this term we had hired one of the best Aurors from the Ministry as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher: the real Alastor Moody."

Dumbledore paused briefly and then, seeing that everybody was paying the maximum attention, continued:

"However, tonight's events have made me decide that, in order to complement Professor Moody's teaching, I will step in as a trainer for some of you. I will be teaching you advanced defence techniques and, for his commitment to the cause and for his previous experience against the Dark Arts, I will ask Mr Harry Potter to assist me in this specific task. Unfortunately, and since we have very little time in our hands, we will have to limit the number of students who will follow this training and together with the school prefects and the Head Boy and Girl, just those students with a mark higher than Exceeds Expectations will be admitted to the training course."

As soon as he said this, all students started murmuring at each other. Some were shocked, some still too scared to think straight and a few were feeling excited…most of them were already members of the DA and were very sure that they would be picked to continue the training they had already started.

One that looked surprisingly pleased was Draco Malfoy. His usual smirk was more like a smile now and Pansy knew that whenever Draco smiled, something creepy was about to happen.

After the meeting, all students headed to their common rooms, Pansy and her group of followers were about to get down to the dungeons when Draco's voice called her name.

Pansy turned round and saw Draco gesturing her to follow him. Obviously, she didn't even hesitate to comply.

They walked again to the room where they had been right after he had come back from his mission.

The fireplace was still lit as if the room was used daily, now that Pansy came to think of it, Draco had probably found this room and was now using it as his private room…probably with Snape's consent.

Draco sat down on the couch near the fireplace and patted the space next to him.

"Sit down…I've got something to tell you…."

Pansy sat down immediately and was about to open her mouth to speak but Draco placed his left index finger over her lips and said:

"Shhh...Pansy, I'm going to be leaving tomorrow, I've just sent an owl to my Father and he will probably want to remove me from the school as soon as possible…."

Pansy felt a stabbing pain in her heart…she didn't want Draco to leave…it had been hard enough without him for just a couple of days…now he was talking about being removed from the school…

"Oh…don't worry, it'll be temporary…just a few weeks till his plans are put into action…then things will be a lot different and I will be able to come back to Hogwarts…" Draco said seeing the pain flashing briefly in Pansy's eyes.

"Dumbledore is actually playing the game we wanted, now all prefects will be trained by him, that over paranoid Auror and Potter. This way you'll be trained to fight against the Dark Arts…that's just perfect since then you'll be able to tell us what to expect from the students…"

"But…" Pansy said not understanding a single word of what Draco was saying.

"Let me finish…what I want you to do here is simple really…I need you to be my contact within Hogwarts, you'll report everything you do and everything you see…and…I will supply you with information that you'll have to give to Dumbledore. Originally, my Father wanted me to do this for him but, I've thought that, since Dumbledore has actually asked you to spy on us, he'll trust you a lot more…after all, it would be hard for him to believe I've suddenly seen the light and I now want to fight alongside him…and I will have much more important things to do now…"

"But Draco…do you think it'll work? I mean…I'm not sure they'll ever trust me…especially Granger…she hates me…" Pansy said now finally understanding Draco's plan.

"You still have better chances at it than me…after all, as far as the Ministry is concerned, your parents have stayed neutral during the whole thing…your only connection with the Dark side is me…with me gone, you'll have the freedom to choose which side you want to be in…" Draco said smirking again.

"Have I?" Pansy asked fearful.

"Have you what? Have the freedom to choose? Obviously…but I think it is pretty clear which side you're in…" Draco said arrogantly.

"Of course…yours…always yours…" Pansy said humbly.

"That's right…now, since this is probably the last night I spend in the castle…" Draco said before kissing Pansy on the side of her neck, just below her earlobe, something that Draco knew it completely made her lose her senses.

The day after, as Draco had predicted, Narcissa Malfoy came to the school demanding that her son left the school with her immediately.

She made a huge commotion out of the whole affair and soon there wasn't anyone in the school who didn't know about it.

That was probably the reason why when Draco Malfoy left the castle, the whole school was present…some Slytherin girls were on the verge of tears seeing their heartthrob leaving and Crabbe and Goyle looked like abandoned puppies.

One student was not there. Pansy couldn't bear to see him leave. She was just too heartbroken to say goodbye to him again.

After agreeing to be such an important part in Lucius Malfoy's plans, whichever those were, Pansy felt that she had never been so frightened in her life. Suddenly, she had been dragged in the middle of a fight that, by the looks of it, would end up as bad as it could ever get.

To be continued…

_A/N: Aaah!!! I'm such a good girl…there you go another chapter, not even twenty four hours after I uploaded the previous one!! (I need to stop this senseless dribble…) In any case, I want to thank you for the support you're all giving to my little story. For the person who asked, Sonia's surname is not too important for the story since I actually made her up but, if you really need to know, it's Blackwell, Sonia Blackwell. __I hope that makes you happy!!_


	14. Chapter Thirteen

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Thirteen_

For Pansy, the days that came after Draco's departure were the dullest and unhappiest days ever. Her group of friends had tried their best to cheer her up but, since none of them knew the whole story, they couldn't really help her much.

The biggest of Pansy's worries was how to manage to do exactly what Draco was expecting of her. She really didn't know how to get any of the Gryffindors' trust and she definitely didn't know how to get on any of the trio's good books. The solution though, would be brought to her by the last person she could have ever thought of.

One night, after they had finished their evening meal, Professor McGonagall announced:

"All prefects and the Head Boy and Girl, please follow me…"

Pansy saw Blaise Zabini getting up from his seat and starting to walk behind the Transfiguration mistress.

The day after Draco's departure, Professor Snape had made known who Draco's successor was going to be.

Pansy still remembered quite painfully the look of triumph on Blaise's face.

From that day, Blaise had self-proclaimed to be the new Slytherin leader and had started behaving in such an arrogant way that even Draco himself would have been scandalised.

Poor Crabbe and Goyle were now being bullied by Zabini's cronies and, these days, the pair tried to keep as quiet as possible, kind of hoping that, the less noise they made, the less Zabini and his friends would bother them.

Pansy, so far, had not been affected by the whole thing, but again, Pansy was a school prefect and a very popular girl with lots of friends.

Professor McGonagall took the prefects and the Head Boy and Girl to an empty classroom. There, they found Professor Dumbledore conversing with Professors Snape and Moody.

As soon as the Headmaster saw them, he stopped speaking and, turning to the students, said:

"As you know, soon we will begin the special training…I want you to help me picking the students from your house that, according to you, fill the requirements needed to follow the training…."

Each of the students looked briefly at each other. Pansy gave a quick glance at Granger. The Gryffindor was whispering something to Weasley.

"…if you please sit down, you can all write down a list with the names of your candidates…remembering our selection rule: only those with a mark higher than E in the Defence Against the Dark Arts subject..." Dumbledore continued saying.

Pansy looked up and saw that, on the previously empty desks, now there were pieces of parchment and quills, all ready to be used.

She sat down and started thinking of all the possible candidates from her house. Sonia was surely one of them…Millicent was absolutely out of the question…Pansy just couldn't stand the sturdy girl. Especially since Pansy knew how Millicent felt towards Draco and how jealous she'd been ever since Pansy and Draco had become an item.

Pansy glanced at Blaise. He was scribbling furiously fast. She saw that he already had a really long list and was adding even more names to it. Probably he was trying to get the favour from as many people as possible in his pursuit to become as popular as Draco.

As soon as she wrote the last of the names she could think of on the list, she placed her quill to the side of the parchment and leant back on her chair while waiting for everyone else to finish.

Professor Snape was in charge of collecting the pieces of parchments from the students, while he was doing so, Professor Dumbledore said:

"Thank you for your cooperation. Tomorrow morning you will be given a note to put up on each of your houses' notice boards…it will state the date of the first training session…as well as the list of the chosen students."

With this, the students understood they were dismissed. Pansy got up from her chair and started walking towards her common room.

She had reached the corridor that led to the dungeons when Pansy felt a hand grabbing her arm a bit too roughly for her own taste. She was about to turn around when she felt the other hand covering her mouth from behind. Then a very familiar voice, whispered in her ear.

"Finally…I've got you alone…."

Pansy started trembling with a mix of disgust and anger.

"Now you're going to be a good girl and you'll follow me without screaming…."

Pansy nodded slightly and the hand removed itself from her mouth allowing her to speak.

"Blaise…what kind of sick joke is this?."

"This is no joke darling…now…come with me…and shut it…your voice annoys me…" and as to give even more weight to his words, Zabini started dragging her with him pulling her by the arm.

They went to the potions classroom. Naturally it was empty now as it was the office attached to it. Professor Snape was now with Dumbledore and, by the looks of it, he would not go back to his office for quite a while.

"Blaise…really…what are we doing here?" Pansy asked ignoring his previous request for silence.

"Well…now that Malfoy has left you here…and since I'm now the most popular guy in our house…I think I deserve to be with the most popular girl…I don't normally take leftovers from other guys but…for you I'll make an exception…after all, if you were good enough for Malfoy…you'll surely be up to MY standards…."

Pansy thought that surely the whole think had to be a joke, either that or Zabini was completely out of his mind. She really couldn't decide which one of the options was scarier. She choose to continue to think it was a joke.

"Ha, ha, ha…very funny…now, if you're finished with this silly joke of yours…I've got to go and do some homework…" Pansy said turning round with every intention of leaving the classroom snatching her arm out of the boy's grasp.

Then, Blaise grabbed her arm again only that this time he turned her around and gave her a slap sending her straight to the floor.

"I'll teach you not to laugh at me you bitch…" Blaise said before sitting astride on the top of her legs pinning her to the ground.

He then leant towards her and, grabbing her head, crushed his lips onto hers. Pansy thought that, with a bit of luck, she would suffocate herself when Blaise stopped the kiss and, with one violent tug, he ripped both her school robes and her shirt open causing Pansy to scream as loud as she could.

Blaise slapped her again causing her lip to split. She started feeling the entire side of her head go numb.

The boy was about to start pulling her skirt up when the two of them heard someone outside the classroom's door.

Blaise, terrified of the thought of getting caught by Snape, got up and said with a voice barely above a whisper:

"If you say anything about this to anyone…I will kill you…and, mark my words Pansy…one of these days…I'll make you mine…."

Then, using the classroom backdoor, a way out only the Slytherins knew about, Blaise left Pansy sitting on the floor trying to get up.

Then the door burst open and, the two last people that Pansy had ever thought of coming to her rescue, stepped into the classroom.

"What are you doing here?" Ron Weasley asked accusingly seeing Pansy there.

Pansy finally got up fumbling with what was left of her shirt in an useless attempt to cover herself.

Granger saw that and, looking at her closely, she also noticed the Slytherin already swollen cheek and bleeding lip. Then, using a surprisingly friendly tone, the Gryffindor girl said:

"Who's done this to you?!."

To be continued…

_A/N: Sorry for the huge delay updating this…I'm having lots of things to do lately…I'll try to post at least one more chapter this weekend…hope you're liking the story so far…and, don't worry, Pansy is not going to be suffering for too long…she's going to kick some ass soon!!!_


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Fourteen_

Pansy was just too confused, upset and hurt to be fast enough to reply. She just stared blankly at Granger and Weasley.

For a crazy moment, Pansy just wanted either of the Gryffindors to hug her and tell her everything was going to be fine but, as she was slowly realising, nothing would be fine anymore.

Then Granger took a couple of steps forward towards Pansy and, lifted a hand trying to grab Pansy's left shoulder.

Pansy, instinctively, backed away not knowing that she had exactly the same look in her eyes as Draco had had when he had learnt about his father's imprisonment: the look of a hurt animal.

"Pansy…what's happened?" Granger almost whispered.

"I…no…I…can't…" Pansy managed to stammer.

"Hermoine, I think it's better if we get Madam Pomfrey…" Pansy heard Weasley saying.

"Yes Ron…I think you're right…you'll go and get her…I'll stay here with Parkinson…I don't think it is a good idea to leave her alone right now…" Granger said without taking her eyes off Pansy.

"Yeah…I'll see you in a sec…" Ron replied not sounding too happy about leaving Hermoine with the Slytherin girl but walking out the classroom nonetheless.

"Now…Parkinson...I've heard you shouting while Ron and I were…well…we were finishing our patrol and we heard you scream…and just now I think I heard a boy's voice…right here…are you going to tell me what happened?" Granger insisted clearly not wanting to drop the subject.

"I…I can't say anything…he'll kill me if I do…" Pansy said finally breaking down and starting to cry hysterically.

Hermoine didn't know what to do…one thing was clear to the Gryffindor, she and Ron had just saved Pansy from getting raped…the thought that someone in the school was sick enough to commit such a disgusting crime gave her goose bumps.

"Pansy…you've got to report this…it could happen to someone else…."

"NO! He wants me…only me…" Pansy managed to say between sobs. Hermoine was about to ask Pansy for the name of her attacker when Madam Pomfrey entered the classroom followed by Ron.

"Miss Parkinson…oh…sweet Merlin…what's happened here?."

"She's been attacked by some boy…she refuses to tell us who he was…" Pansy heard Granger saying.

"Well…Miss Granger…it's been good of you to stay with her but…I think she's going to tell us everything whenever she's ready…I don't think it wise to stress her even more…she's probably traumatised by the whole thing…now, Miss Parkinson…you're coming with me to the Hospital Wing…."

Madam Pomfrey put her arm around Pansy's shoulder and urged gently to walk towards the door.

Pansy heard Granger and Weasley walk behind her refraining from exchanging a single word. Madam Pomfrey, however, turned around briefly and said:

"One of you two, go and fetch Professor Snape, the other one, go back to your common room…it is too late for you students to go walking around the school…."

"Madam Pomfrey…we're doing our night patrol...it's our turn tonight…that's what we were doing down in the dungeons…that's how we heard Parkinson's scream…" Hermoine explained not wanting to be sent off to the Gryffindor common room.

"Ah…alright then…just go and get Professor Snape and then you can continue your patrol…" said Madam Pomfrey dismissively, not wanting to waste any more time arguing, eager as she was to get her patient into the Hospital Wing.

Hermoine then looked at Ron quickly and silently reached the agreement that the red haired boy would go and get the Slytherin's Head while Hermoine would follow Madam Pomfrey to the Hospital Wing.

A few minutes later, Madam Pomfrey was tucking Pansy in bed having removed her torn clothes and put one of the hospital pyjamas on.

She was already administering a light sleeping draught to her patient when Professor Snape, followed by Ron, entered the room not even bothering to knock. He looked at Hermoine like if she was the culprit of the whole situation.

"Madam Pomfrey…what's happened here?" the potions professor asked, being at least kind enough to lower his voice.

"Severus…please, would you follow me to my office?" the healer witch asked.

"Sure…you two…stay here…I want to speak to you later…" Professor Snape replied looking malignly at Hermoine and Ron.

The two Gryffindors had no other option but to just nod. They saw the two adults leave the room. Then Hermoine approached Pansy's bed. The Slytherin was already falling asleep but before she did, she muttered:

"Granger…thank you for tonight…I will be forever grateful…."

"Don't mention it…I just…Parkinson you've got to report whoever did this to you…as a school prefect, it is your duty…" Hermoine insisted.

"I can't…I just…can't…" Pansy said starting to cry again.

Ron freaked out a little bit fearing that Professor Snape would hear his student cry and would blame them. Thankfully, the sleeping drought started having effect and Pansy just slipped to a dreamless sleep.

Professor Snape came out Madam Pomfrey's office a few minutes later and, after the three of them were rushed out of the room by Madam Pomfrey, asked the two Gryffindors to explain in full detail what had happened. It was only once he seemed satisfied with the information retrieved, that he allowed both Ron and Hermoine to go back to finish their night patrol.

They were walking back to the corridors when Ron said:

"That Parkinson is really thick…she really should report her attacker…."

"Well…I don't think it's that easy…she must be really scared…I think she knows her attacker very well…she did say that he wanted only her…that's probably why she doesn't want to report him…" Hermoine said.

"Why is that? I just don't get it…" Ron said stubbornly.

"Argh…men! You're so insensitive…she's quite obviously terrified of him…" Hermoine said getting annoyed.

"Hermoine…if it wasn't because I know you quite well…I would say you're defending that Parkinson girl…" Ron said looking at her through narrowed eyes.

"Is not that Ron…is just that I understand how she must be feeling…and, Slytherin or not, she's still a girl nonetheless…."

"Right…" Ron said not really understanding but not wanting to upset Hermoine, then he added, "Let's go back to the common room, Harry is probably waiting for us…."

"I think Harry is keeping himself in quite good company right now…" Hermoine said mysteriously.

"What do you mean?" Ron said with an slightly higher tone.

"Argh…men!" the Gryffindor girl said for the second time that night and, not waiting for him, she started walking a bit faster towards the main, marble stair case leaving behind a very confused Ron.

To be continued…

_A/N: Sorry I would have posted this yesterday but I had problems connecting to …in any case, I will try my best to upload one more chapter sometime in the next two days… Thanks again for all your reviews!! You make me very, very happy!!_


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Fifteen_

When Pansy finally woke up, the Slytherin realised a few things. One of them is that it had to be sometime in the middle of the day, judging by the amount of light that was coming through the windows. Another was that she wasn't in her dorm and she was not wearing her silk pyjama but something made out of cotton (what if her mother saw her dressed like that?).

The most disturbing thing, however, was to find a very familiar looking Gryffindor looking at her.

"Granger…" Pansy said with a very raucous voice that made her realise she was desperate for a drink of water.

"See you're finally awake…how are you feeling?" Hermoine asked looking genuinely concerned.

"I…" Pansy started but stopped when all the previous night's events came back into her memory.

Breathing deeply, she tried to restart the sentence.

"I…I'm alright…I guess…Granger…why are you still here? I mean…not that I don't appreciate what you've done for me but…I…I've been a complete bitch to you all this years and now…" Pansy said feeling quite ashamed of herself.

"Well…call it sense of duty…or maybe it's just that I'd have done it for anyone…I am a school prefect after all…" Hermoine said frankly.

"Well…that's probably the strong sense of honour you Gryffindors are so famous for…" Pansy said without any trace of sarcasm in her voice.

"Guess so…Parkinson, you really have to consider quite seriously reporting the guy who has done this to you…" Hermoine said cautiously not wanting to upset Pansy.

Pansy seemed to consider the whole thing but, Hermoine, realising that the dark haired girl was not going to say anything, said:

"I realise that you'd rather tell one of your friends…" then, getting up from the chair where she was sitting, started to walk away.

Pansy suddenly remembered Draco's instructions and called out:

"Granger…I…."

Hermoine turned around and looked at her with interest as if trying to encourage her to speak up.

"If I tell you…you'll have to help me to protect myself…otherwise he'll kill me…."

"Alright…you've got my word…" Hermoine promised.

"It was Blaise Zabini…he's been after me ever since Draco left…" Pansy said feeling an odd sensation going down her spine that made her shiver.

"What? Blaise Zabini? But…he's a prefect!" Hermoine said.

"I know…but I swear it was him…" Pansy said sounding quite desperate, as if getting Hermoine to believe her was even more essential than finding a way to punish the bastard.

"Alright…I believe you…we've got to tell Professor Dumbledore…Zabini will surely get expelled…this way, you won't have to worry about him anymore…" Hermoine said smiling.

"NO!!! He knows where I live…don't you think he'll want revenge if I report him?" Pansy said looking positively freaked out.

"No…I'll be showing you a few muggle tricks that will help you…" Hermoine said.

"Muggle tricks?" Pansy asked very confused.

"Yes…it's just some self defence muggles use…they're particularly helpful for women…" Hermoine explained.

"Ah…I see…" Pansy replied not sounding very convinced about the fact that some muggle thing could help her to defend herself.

"I'm going to let Madam Pomfrey know you're awake…" Hermoine said, then, considering the visit over, she started walking to the door.

"Granger…" Pansy called out for the second time.

"Yes?" Hermoine replied without turning around.

"Thank you…" Pansy said with a bit of an effort.

"You're welcome…"Hermoine said leaving the room.

Pansy left the hospital wing that same afternoon, after promising Madam Pomfrey that she would take care of herself.

The school nurse had not asked any questions regarding the attack. Pansy assumed that she had either talked to Hermoine or she was just the most reserved person on earth. In any case, the girl was just grateful she could postpone the whole thing until she was ready to talk about it.

The Slytherin was walking towards the common room when a voice behind her made her stop.

"Miss Parkinson…I need a word with you…."

Turning around, Pansy saw Professor Snape waiting just outside his office. Not wanting to upset the head of her house, she walked towards him following the professor into his office.

"Sit down…" Professor Snape said walking around his desk to take a seat himself.

Pansy did as she was told and sat down quietly waiting for the professor to speak.

"Miss Parkinson…I must address this very delicately…and, as you all know…I'm not famous for my delicacy…I've heard that you've been to the hospital wing?" Professor Snape asked.

"Yes…" Pansy replied knowing that she would now have to explain the whole attack.

"Are you feeling better?" Professor Snape asked giving a clear impression he didn't really care.

Pansy just nodded.

"The rumours are that you were involved in some kind of fight…" Professor Snape said.

"What? No…I was attacked…" Pansy started saying very confused.

"That's not what I heard…Mr Zabini has come to my office this afternoon and has told me that…well…you know what happened…" Snape explained utterly shocking Pansy.

"What did he tell you?" Pansy asked fearing the worst.

"Wel…apparently…you cornered him after last night's meeting and…well…you were a bit insistent…you told him you felt lonely and that you have always fancied him better than Mr Malfoy…and then, when he rejected you…you just got violent and tried to hex him…he had to hit you in order to defend himself…"

Pansy was speechless…she had a boiling mixture of feelings raising up her throat…anger, shame, and a huge urge to really hex Blaise Zabini and turn him into the rat he was.

To be continued…

_A/N: Here you go…really late but…it's better later than never (very pathetic attempt to quiet down the little voice in my head that keeps telling me off for not having updated in a whole week!!!) I will really try to post another chapter tonight though…I hope! Thanks again for the reviews…you're fantastic!!!!_


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Sixteen_

It had to be some sort of nightmare, things were just going from bad to worse…

"Professor…surely you don't believe a word of what Zabini said, do you?" Pansy asked just refusing to believe that the whole thing was actually happening to her.

"Well…to be honest, he did sound pretty convincing…" the professor replied.

Pansy looked at him in the eye and then she saw it. It was useless to argue. Professor Snape had already made up his mind about the whole incident.

Getting desperate, Pansy said:

"Granger and Weasley were there…they actually rescued me…."

She then saw some unidentified feeling flashing across the Slytherin House's. He started sacking his head making his black, greasy locks to move with it.

"Miss Parkinson…there is no need to get Granger and Weasley involved…those two have their egos big enough as it is…I'm sure they have enough praise as it is being friends with Mr-I'm-so-famous-Harry-Potter…."

"But it's true…they were there…" Pansy said feeling like she was about to cry.

"Miss Parkinson…drop the act…I'm not about to punish you…although I really should give you some detention so you learn not to lie…but…at it is…I feel quite magnanimous and I will not pursue the truth. Let's just leave things like they are…I will talk to Mr Zabini as to calm him down…I'll give him my word you will not bother him any more…this is what we are going to do…now, you have a common room to go back to…and, Miss Parkinson, be careful with who you liaise with…being seen with Granger and Weasley is not going to do much for your reputation."

With this, the professor got up from his seat and, walking towards his office's door, opened and made a gesture that Pansy interpreted as: get the hell out of here before I change my mind.

Pansy walked to her common room in some sort of trance. She was just in some sort of denial mood. She refused to believe what had just happened.

Snape didn't believe her. Zabini had overtaken her and Snape had bought his version entirely. Draco was not there. 'Oh my…Draco!' thought Pansy. What if any of this got to the blond Slytherin?

Learning from the lesson, she made up her mind to write to Draco that very same night. She had to tell him her version of the facts. At this point she really thought Blaise was enough of a bastard to write to Draco himself.

Alas, Pansy didn't foresee what she was about to face in the common room. As soon as she stepped in, she sensed that something wasn't quite right.

To start with, everyone in the room stopped doing whatever they were doing at the time to clearly stare at her.

Some boys started laughing at her…some girls were looking at her with their eyes full of pity…but what it was worse…some of them were plainly hostile.

One of them was Millicent Bulstrode. The sturdy girl walked towards her, stopping a few centimetres from her.

"You whore…you not only had to fool around Draco but now you also want Blaise…really what makes you think you're so special as to get the best looking guys in the school? You look pretty ordinary to me…" Millicent spat at her.

Pansy was too stunned to say anything back. She was thinking of something to say when she saw her group of faithful friends come to the rescue.

"Come on Pansy…let's go to the dormitory…" Sonia said and Pansy followed without arguing.

Public scorn was something so new to Pansy that she still didn't know how to cope with it.

"Pansy…before we make any assumptions…I'd like to hear your side of the story…" Sonia said as soon as they got to the dorm.

Pansy let out an audible sigh. She started with a very shaky voice, to describe the events that made her end up in the hospital wing.

When she finished, she looked at the group of five girls looking at her. She felt very grateful to see that not only they had believed her but they shared the anger she herself felt.

"I can't believe the bastard!! He told everyone you tried to attack him after he rejected you…he said he didn't find you attractive…he also said that he was not about to take Draco's leftovers…" Sonia said shaking her head.

The girls said argued what to do next to get revenge. Not really caring…Pansy decided to go to bed and rest till the others went to bed…she had every intention to sneak out to send an owl to Draco.

Later on that night, while coming back from the owlery, she saw a group of students sneaking out of the Gryffindor tower. Among them, Pansy recognised two red heads that had to belong to the Weasley siblings. Next to them she saw Hermoine's bushy head. Walking ahead of them Pansy saw Harry Potter talking to Neville Longbottom.

Making up her mind, she walked towards the group.

"Granger…."

Hermoine stopped on her tracks and turned around slowly.

"Parkinson…what on earth are you doing here?" Hermoine whispered looking around as if half expecting to find Professor Snape with them.

"Where are you going?" Pansy asked.

"We…we are…" Hermoine started saying.

"We're going to our D.A. meeting…don't bother reporting us, we have Professor Dumbledore's blessing for this…" Harry said challengingly.

"I wasn't going to report you…" Pansy said.

"Really? And, what makes you think we're going to believe you?" Weasley asked.

"I'm not expecting you to believe me…I need to ask you a favour…" Pansy asked looking at Hermoine in the eye.

"What is it?" Hermoine asked.

"Do you remember you promised to me to teach me some self defence moves?" Pansy asked.

"Sure…" Hermoine said getting a few funny looks from her fellow Gryffindors.

"Well…I would rather join your group instead…I need to learn to defend myself from a lot more than only Blaise…I have a very bad feeling and I'm going to need to know how to fight back…if the occasion calls for it…."

_A/N: True to my word…there you go another chapter!! I hope you are still enjoying this…we're going to see some action soon…just bear with me!_

_Take care, Sanae._


	18. Chapter Seventeen

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Seventeen_

There was a moment of silence right after Pansy's declaration. The five Gryffindors seemed to be considering how to tell her to go to hell as kindly as possible when Hermoine, always the fastest of them, said:

"Why do you want to join?."

Pansy considered her answer briefly, then she said:

"Well, like I said, I have a very bad feeling regarding the whole war…somehow I think no one will be truly victorious…."

"You're probably right…there are no victors and losers in any war…only people that are desperate enough to have to fight for their lives…" Harry said interrupting her.

"Ok…that makes a good reason but…I think there is another reason why you'd like to join, am I right?" Hermoine said ignoring Harry's sudden philosophical inspiration.

"Yes…Snape didn't believe me when I told him Blaise had tried to…well…you know…" Pansy said feeling herself blushing with shame.

"WHAT??" Hermoine shouted suddenly.

"Not only that…apparently Blaise has been telling everyone he had to hit me because I tried to hex him after HE rejected ME…" Pansy continued.

"What?? We were there…did you tell him that?" Ron intervened for the first time.

"Of course I did…he didn't want to get any of you involved…he said that…oh well…never mind…he didn't want to have to discredit a Slytherin in favour of one of you…" Pansy said.

"And of course, for that, you want to take revenge…" Harry said.

"No…I simply want to be able to defend myself properly next time Blaise comes anywhere near me…" Pansy said frankly.

"Ok, just give us a minute…" Hermoine said.

Then she pulled both Harry and Ron with her while prompting the other two Gryffindors to follow her.

Pansy saw her whispering something at them. Whatever it was, it had to power to convince all of them, even if the youngest of the Weasleys needed an extra word from Harry in order to fully agree with the rest.

"Alright…you may join in…but not today…we'll tell you when the next meeting will be…" Hermoine announced finally.

"Thanks Granger…it means a lot to me…" Pansy said.

The Gryffindor just nodded and turning round, followed by her four housemates, she just walked away leaving Pansy standing on the top of the stairs.

This was probably the lowest Pansy had ever reached. Having to ask Granger for help was probably her worst moment in the six years she had been at Hogwarts.

That night, Pansy got in bed feeling as though as if someone had replaced her heart with a stone. She started sobbing silently until, exhausted, the girl fell asleep.

She had a horrible nightmare that night. She was being chased by the dementors up a spiral stair…Draco was calling her name from the top of it and she kept running and running…till finally, she reached the top, only to find there someone with a black set of robes and a hood.

Pansy started thinking it was Voldemort himself waiting for her when the person removed the hood to show Blaise's sour face smirking.

"You have no escape…run, my dear Pansy…run as fast as you want…I'll catch you nonetheless…."

Pansy turned around just to see that the spiral stair was no longer there…it had been replaced by a black hole. She fell into that hole…she screamed as loud as her lungs could.

"Pansy…hey…Pansy…wake up!!"

Pansy woke up to face a very worried Sonia.

"Hey pal…you were having a nightmare…come on…great news! Hogsmeade weekend ahead!!" Sonia said.

"What?" Pansy said not understanding anything while fighting to shake off the terror the nightmare had provoked to her.

"Hey…it had to be a very rough dream…what was it about?" Sonia asked curious.

"Oh…something stupid…I cannot even remember…"Pansy lied.

"Oh well…Pansy…we're allowed to go to Hogsmeade this weekend, for our Christmas shopping and stuff…" Sonia said excitedly.

"That's great!" Pansy said faking an enthusiasm she didn't really feel.

"Ah…and you've got a letter today…it was a very weird owl that brought it here…it didn't even fly to the Great Hall…came straight to the dungeon…and it doesn't say who's it from…" Sonia said passing her a white envelope.

Pansy looked at it carefully. It had a small water mark in one of the corners. DM. Draco Malfoy.

Pansy opened the letter in such a hurry she almost shredded the envelope.

_Pansy,_

_I received your owl last night. I need to see you as soon as possible. Hogsmeade would be great if you can sneak out…bring Blaise with you. _

_Draco_

_PS: Any news? _

Pansy was confused. As always Draco managed to provoke so many different feelings inside her with only a few words.

She felt really good that he wanted to see her, no he needed to see her.

She also felt really confused with Draco's request to bring Blaise with her. Why? After what Blaise had almost done to her, why would Draco want to see him for?

Any news? Yes, tons of them…she had been admitted to the D.A., the only Slytherin to have done so.

She was also missing him like mad. Grabbing a piece of parchment and ignoring Sonia's curious look, Pansy wrote:

_Dear__ Draco,_

_We're allowed to go to Hogsmeade next weekend. How about meeting in front of the Three Broomsticks at __midday__? I will try to convince Blaise to come with me although I don't understand why._

_I have been accepted into the D.A. It will be easier to report more from there. _

_I miss you and I can't wait to see you again. _

_I hope you are well._

_Yours, always,_

_Pansy._

Putting the letter in one of her own envelopes, she got up from bed and, after quickly dressing herself, ran to the owlery to send the letter to Draco.

To be continued…

_A/N: Next, more Pansy/Draco interaction… Thanks for your comments!! I'm glad to see someone is still enjoying this…_


	19. Chapter Eighteen

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Eighteen_

By Friday evening, everyone, regardless of their house, was excited about their trip to Hogsmeade. It seemed that this year, more than the others, everyone was trying twice as hard to enjoy those little things that made life worth living.

Pansy thought it was probably the prospect of a terrible war, a common feeling shared by basically every witch and wizard, that made people aware of the fact that those little things were not to be taken for granted.

Pansy had succeeded, quite effectively, to avoid any contact with Blaise ever since the 'incident' as Professor Snape liked to call Blaise's rape attempt. Unfortunately, she had to comply with Draco's instructions and had to, somehow, not only talk to Blaise but also convince him to follow her to the Shrieking Shack for there is where Draco had told her to meet him.

He had been, as usual, very brief in the message he had sent to her as a reply to her letter:

_Pansy,_

_Meet me at the Shrieking Shack at 7pm. Come with Blaise but don't tell him I'll be there. _

_Draco_

_PS: Excellent news about the D.A. my father is very pleased._

The girl was thinking about how to confront Blaise with the whole issue when someone dropped a tiny piece of paper next to her plate.

She turned around to see whoever had dropped the piece of paper, she saw a Hufflepuff walking away from her seat.

Pansy grabbed the piece of paper before anyone of her friends got too suspicious and opened it with her hands under the table.

The note said:

_Go to the bottom of the marble stairs, we'll be waiting for you there. You have to go unnoticed. HG._

HG: Hermoine Granger. Turning to face the main door, Pansy saw the trio with a few other students leaving the Great Hall. Pansy was incredibly happy to see that Hermoine had remained true to her word and was actually accepting her presence in one of the D.A. get-togethers.

Pansy left the Great Hall after having told Sonia she had to check something in the library. She meet the D.A. group at the bottom of the great marble stairs, then followed them through the school corridors till they all came to a halt right in front of a wall. She saw Harry walking back and forth just like Draco had done to conjure the room they used for their secret reunions.

Surely enough, a heavy wooden door appeared before them. Harry opened the door and urged everyone to go inside, then followed the group into the room and closed the door behind him placing a blocking charm on it.

"Right guys…you all now what to do…tonight we have a new addition to the group…please welcome Pansy Parkinson…" Harry said facing the group.

Pansy could have laughed at their faces. Some of them looked positively freaked out.

"Why is she here? Isn't it enough that we have to share Dumbledore's special training with the Slytherins that we also have to have them here? Harry…I thought we were training with you to fight THEM…" said a seventh year Ravenclaw.

"Hey guys…we've got our reasons to accept her in our group…besides, you all know that Dumbledore is not teaching us all he wants because of the limitations the Ministry is imposing on him…that's why we had to reassemble this group in the first place…we need some proper training to fight the Death Eaters…" Hermoine explained.

Pansy was shocked. So, Dumbledore had limitations imposed from the Ministry? They weren't learning all he wanted to teach them? That sounded very interesting indeed…Pansy was sure the Dark Lord would be pleased to know these kind of things.

"Besides…the fact that the Ministry refuses to lift the underage ban on the use of magic is working against us…we still have to train clandestinely…" added Ron.

"Well…I think we've wasted enough time…today we'll get in pairs and will practice the shielding charm against some of the stronger curses…remember to put every bit of your concentration on it…you've got to believe you can block whatever curse is thrown at you…" Harry said considering the matter settled.

Pansy stood there while watching everyone pairing up.

Ron and Hermoine, of course, made up a pair, Pansy thought that if they weren't already together, they ought to be…they looked perfect for each other. Unfortunately for Pansy, after everyone had his or her partner, the Slytherin found herself alone and feeling stupid.

"Come here…I'll train with you…" Harry said provoking a red haired girl to look at Pansy as though as she wanted to throw one of the unforgivables at her.

They spent the next two hours training with different courses and counter-courses. Pansy had to admit that, not only they were all really good at it, but also Harry made an excellent teacher. He kept correcting people's moves and incantations, suggesting new things to be tried…always keeping an unpretentious manner.

She was now trying to block a hex thrown by Ginny, who had made every effort to end up paired up with the Slytherin. The youngest of the Weasleys was a very fine witch and those who were familiar with her knew that under the fiery temper, there was a sweet natured girl.

Tonight though, she seemed determined to cause Pansy as much damage as possible. Pansy felt the Gryffindor was just making her pay for the beginning of the training session. At some point, the Slytherin felt it was necessary to stop the whole thing before Ginny would turn her permanently into a toad.

"Hey…take it easy…I'm not after Harry you know…I prefer blond guys…" Pansy said half jokingly.

Ginny looked at her shocked then, slowly, the red head gave her a small smile. From then on, Ginny became a lot less aggressive.

Pansy went to bed that night feeling much happier. She had learnt lots of things from Harry and the D.A. but, the most important thing was that she had lots to tell Draco when they finally saw each other the following day. Pansy was counting the minutes until that happened.

The following morning was spent by Pansy and her friends raiding every single shop in Hogsmeade. Pansy herself bought almost all her Christmas presents, a new quill as well as the new edition of Witch Weekly, her favourite magazine.

After that, they had lunch and went for a second session of shopping madness. It was nearing seven when the girls started complaining of how tired they were.

"Let's go back to the school…" Sonia suggested.

"You girls go…I've got to do one very quick thing…" Pansy said giving Sonia a look that spoke volumes.

"Right…yeah…that thing…" Sonia said raising both her eyebrows. Pansy had confided her the fact that she was meeting Draco that evening. Pansy had had to tell her so she wouldn't ask too many questions later.

The girls left to the school carrying with them Pansy's shopping. Then, the Slytherin started looking for Blaise. It wasn't hard to find him, he was coming out one of the main street's shops followed by his group of buddies.

"Blaise…I need to talk to you…" Pansy said not caring a iota about what the group of boys that were with him thought.

Blaise smirked creating a bad copy of Draco's trademark ones. Pansy had to accept that he had hidden his surprise incredibly quickly.

"Ah…I see you never give up…oh well, guys…a man has to be a gentleman…so if you'll excuse me, I have to tell her once more why a fine man like me cannot be with an ordinary girl like her…" Blaise said causing everyone to laugh out loud.

Pansy had to bit her lower lip so she wouldn't send him to hell. She was just happy enough to have him follow him to meet Draco. She still didn't know what the blond wanted with Blaise but curiosity made her eager to find out.

Blaise followed her through Hogsmeade's streets to the abandoned mansion, Pansy found herself almost running there. They had almost reached the manor and Blaise was about to say something, probably very rude, when Draco appeared from behind a tree.

Pansy was about to say something but Blaise was quicker than her.

"Malfoy? What are you doing here?."

Draco limited himself to give Blaise the worst of his smirks, the one he saved for when he was furious.

To be continued…


	20. Chapter Nineteen

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Chapter Nineteen_

Pansy started feeling slightly faint, the girl was wondering what was wrong with her when she realised that she was, unconsciously, holding her breath.

Everything around the three Slytherins was still, as if mother nature herself was waiting to see what happened next. Then, Draco pulled his wand out, with such a swift movement that Pansy, only realised he had done so when she heard:

"Petrificus Totalus!."

She then saw Blaise's face going from shocked to surprised to end with a petrified look, to match his own body's state, then, with a loud thump, he fell backwards hitting his head quite heavily against the ground. Unfortunately for him, the smack was not hard enough to knock him out.

Draco, smirking more than ever, started walking slowly towards him till he stood right next to Blaise. He then crouched to be a bit more level with the other boy and, with an ice-cold voice said:

"I heard about your pathetic attempts to take over me at school…I find it amusing how much effort you're putting into try to match me…I may have taken the whole thing's humorous side and just laugh at you, but...."

He stopped and looked up briefly at Pansy, the girl found herself, as every time he looked at her, magnetically attracted to the cold grey-bluish of his eyes. For a split second though, those eyes filled with some primitive, unidentified emotion.

Draco broke the eye contact and looked back at Blaise, who still laid there immobilised, then, with the same tone used before, Draco continued:

"Unfotunately for you…I've also heard that, along with my place at school, you wanted my girlfriend as well…"

Pansy's heart skipped a couple of beats. 'GIRLFRIEND? Draco's said I'm his girlfriend?' Pansy thought and her heart filled with so much emotion she thought it would explode inside her. Then, suddenly remembering what was going on, Pansy returned her attention back to Draco.

"…so, I decided I had to come here and made it clear to you that Pansy belongs to me…and, if you ever, and I mean_ ever_, try to do as much as speak to her again, be sure I'll know about it…and you'll then be dead…but again, if you tell anyone about this, you'll die anyway…I'll personally see to it…."

The immobilising curse was slowly losing its effects and Blaise started moving a bit his limbs, as though as he was testing them. Draco, seeing this, pointed his wand lazily at the other boy and said:

"Incarcerous."

Rapidly, a thick rope came out Draco's wand and bound itself around Blaise's body making him completely unable to move. Blaise, getting desperate, tried to shout but Draco, again being much faster than Blaise, shouted:

"Quietus!."

Blaise's mouth opened but no noise came from it. Draco, who was getting bored by the whole thing, stood up and, this time speaking to Pansy said:

"I think he's not going to cause you any harm now…let's go somewhere nicer…."

The girl looked at Draco who, after placing a Disillusionment Charm on Blaise, started walking towards Hogsmeade. Pansy started following him and, finally finding her voice, the girl said:

"Draco…you're not supposed to use your magic outside the school…you're still underage…."

Draco looked at her surprised. Then, smiling with a truly amused smile, he said:

"Oh Pansy, Pansy…I missed your sense of humour…."

"Draco, I'm serious…you're going to get in trouble…" Pansy insisted not really seeing the fun in the whole thing.

"And tell me…what are they going to do? Expel me? Oh, hang on…news flash: I'm no longer going to school...I'm saved then…" Draco said sarcastically, almost laughing.

"I wasn't talking about expulsion…I was talking about imprisonment…" Pansy said getting even more serious.

"Pansy…now, seriously, do you really thing the Ministry has the resources to enforce the underage restriction on the use of magic? No, Pansy…they're too busy fighting us to be bothered about these little things…" Draco said with his usual confidence, the one that made Pansy just feel stupid.

"I guess you're right…" Pansy said finally getting at his level trying to keep up with his pace.

"Of course I am…" Draco said continuing to walk.

"Draco…what are we going to do with Blaise?" Pansy asked not really caring about the boy but more concerned about her personal safety.

"Oh don't worry about him…he's tied up, practically invisible and mute…no one is going to find him unless they just bump into him…an unlikely thing to happen at this time of the evening…talking of which, we don't have much time…you've to go back to school or you'll get detention…" Draco said making Pansy have the stupid notion that Draco was actually concerned about her wellbeing.

Draco left Pansy as close to the school's entrance as possible before leaving. Pansy was still surprised that Draco had already learnt to Apparate but again, now that he was no longer in school, as he had explained to her, he was quickly learning everything a dark wizard needed to know directly from the source of all Dark Arts: Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Pansy wasn't surprised about the amount of things he knew but again, he had been Slytherin's best student ever, only second to the Dark Lord himself, naturally.

Pansy, in exchange, had told him everything she had learned from the trio during the D.A. lesson and had filled Draco with the latest news from Hogwarts. Draco was thrilled to see that the divergences between Professor Dumbledore and the Ministry were still strong, at least strong enough for the Ministry to put some limitations on Dumbledore's teachings.

"Pansy…I..." Draco said while the pair were enjoying a brief moment of intimacy just before the young man had to leave.

"Yes?" Pansy said swearing she could sense Draco wanting to tell her he loved her but not being actually able to say it aloud. Probably admitting something like that would not only be a very un-Malfoy thing to do but, also, Pansy wasn't sure Draco was actually allowed to fall in love at this point of his training.

"I…I need to leave now…I'll be waiting for your messages, as always..." Draco said suddenly walking two steps away from her.

"Of course…" Pansy said sensing a huge feeling of disappointment creeping up her throat pinning it so tight she feared she would choke.

Draco seemed to notice that and, taking one single step towards her, he added:

"Don't worry…the final battle will take place soon, very soon…the only thing I can tell you now is that it will start here…in this very same spot…" he circled the area where they were standing with his wand.

"Draco…I'm scared…" Pansy admitted yearning more than ever for Draco to just hug her tight. Of course, that didn't happen.

"You don't need to be…we're going to be victorious…you'll see…we purebloods are predestined to rule…magic will go back to its origins and no more mudbloods nor halfbloods will be there to poison our purity, I just need you to be strong for the cause…."

"I will be…I will be strong…" Pansy said, promising herself that, no matter what it cost her, she wouldn't let Draco down.

Draco then took another step forward, placed one of his hands to the side of Pansy's head and bending down slightly, brushed her lips with his own. Pansy found her hands moving to the back of his head, she used them to push him towards her, to deepen the kiss. Draco then reacted by placing his free hand around her waist to crush her against his chest. Pansy abandoned herself to the wonderful feeling of belonging that being back in Draco's arms gave her.

Light as a cloud, Pansy walked back to the school…she had never been as happy as then.

To be continued…

_A/N: I hope those that were missing Draco and Pansy together will be happy now…but, do not fear…there will be more moments like this soon…very soon!!_

_Ah, as usual, thanks for the reviews!! You guys are just amazing…_


	21. Chapter Twenty

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

****

_Chapter Twenty_

The day before the students would leave to start of the Christmas break Pansy woke up feeling a lot sadder she had been ever since the trip to Hogsmeade. The reason being that, complying with the school tradition, there was going to be a ball celebrated that same day just after dinner and, naturally Pansy still had no partner.

This was partially Draco's fault. Pansy recalled the morning after her meeting with Draco and what the blond young man had done to Blaise. It was rumoured that the boy had only managed to make it back to the school at four o'clock in the morning and, naturally, he had got caught by Flinch in one of the caretaker's usual rounds.

Blaise had got a whole week of detention and forty points were taken from Slytherin. This, of course, got Professor Snape thoroughly infuriated and Blaise had not had a happy moment ever since. Even Pansy felt kind of sympathetic towards the poor guy.

In any case, whatever Blaise had told everyone of the boys from Slytherin, no one was brave enough to ask Pansy to go to the ball with him. Consequently, Pansy found herself having to go alone to the Great Hall for every one of her friends had actually found a partner.

She went to have breakfast knowing that everyone would be very much engaged in all sorts of conversations regarding that night's event. Even knowing that, she tried to put on a façade of nonchalance as if the whole thing didn't really interest her.

In fact, she didn't have to make too much of an effort for she was a lot more worried about the lack of feedback from Draco. Even though she wrote to him at least once a week to let him know about her progress with the D.A. and the information she had gathered so far, her boyfriend had not written to her at all and, for this once, no news didn't necessarily mean good news.

She had found out many interesting things through Harry's and Professor Dumbledore's lessons. For instance, she knew that the latter was just a very well staged coverage of the former.

Dumbledore and his so called assistants, were just teaching them all the stuff they would have learnt through the Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons, not that it wasn't interesting or useful, on the contrary, she found many of those things to be quite practical and did pay a lot of attention to them but, in reality, it was only during Harry's lessons during the D.A. meetings where they learnt, not only loads of new things but, Harry also discussed with the group the news regarding the fight they were actually training for. Naturally, the D.A. gatherings were still kept a secret from the rest of students.

Pansy could easily guess the reason of the existence of both groups: although Professor Dumbledore's lessons aimed to instruct the pupils for a possible attack, he was merely preparing them to defend themselves in the event of an attack to Hogwarts. The D.A. however, was a completely different business, they were training to fight, even offensively if needed.

At some point, Harry had even revealed to the group the contents of the prophecy they had tried to save the night they had gone to the Department of Mysteries.

Pansy was so shocked to hear that Harry himself had to kill Voldemort that she had forgotten to inform Draco about it. She had started to feel some sort of respect for the Gryffindor bespectacled boy. Pansy had learnt many things about him and about his disastrous life and, instead of feeling pity for him, she could not help feeling admiration for the guy. Especially seeing how he carried himself around without a single ounce of selfishness always trying to help everybody no matter who they were.

She was even starting to feel really friendly towards Hermoine, even considering the fact that she was a mudblood, 'no, muggle-born', Pansy corrected herself for she was making every effort to appear as civilised as possible, taking in consideration the amount of muggle-borns that actually formed the D.A.

A clear example of how polite she had become, was the fact that every morning, when she passed by the Gryffindor table, she actually greeted everyone she knew in the house of the lion.

That morning, of course, was no different and, as usual, she saw Harry talking animatedly to Ginny and Hermoine practicing her favourite sport: telling Ron off.

After bidding good morning to them, she went to her table and sat down next to Sonia who, predictably enough, was actually talking to one of the other girls about which shoes to wear with their brand new dress robes.

Pansy felt instantly depressed about it but, as her tight upbringing had taught her, didn't show it in the slightest. In fact, she soon got involved in the conversation and was soon giving her opinion about how a nice pair of black shoes actually matched everything.

Later on, they were walking to their last Double Potions of the term when she felt something burning in her pocket. It was the coin the D.A. used to summon its members to the meetings. She made a mental note to look at the time marked on it right after the lesson not being able to do so now.

She was so distracted thinking about the whole thing that she didn't notice that someone was waiting for her right next to the entrance of the Potions' classroom.

"Parkinson…I'd like a word, please…."

Pansy lifted her head and had to fight very hard to hide her surprise.

"Nott…why…of course…what can I do for you?" Pansy asked Theodore Nott, the loner of the sixth year.

"Not here…after the lesson, please…."

"Sure…I'll see you then…" Pansy said feeling utterly shocked. This was the first time in six years that Theodore Nott had actually spoken to her. Whatever he needed to tell her was incredibly important, and that, made Pansy very worried indeed.

The Double potions lesson was even slower than usual…they were sharing it with the Gryffindors and, naturally, Professor Snape was just making fun of them at every single occasion. Pansy didn't really understand why he behaved this way, not after finding out the truth about the Potions master and his true affiliation. She just thought that maybe Snape had spent so long making fun of Harry and his friends and the habit was hard to die. Either that or, more likely, Snape was just pretending to hate Harry in an attempt to appear as unsuspicious as possible.

In any case, Pansy was just very happy to hear the two words students liked the most: class dismissed.

She found herself almost running towards the door, eager as she was to check the time of the next D.A. meeting, when she heard Nott's voice from behind her.

"Parkinson…do you have time now?"

Turning round not actually believing she had forgot about it, she replied:

"Sure…where do you want to go?"

"Not far…let's just head quickly outside…I've got to go to Transfiguration in a minute…" Nott replied starting to walk.

They reached an empty corridor and Pansy started feeling quite afraid, suddenly remembering the last time she had been alone with a boy other than Draco. Just in case, she put her hand inside her pocket and clenched her wand as firmly as possible ready to attack if needed.

She was about to pull it out seeing Nott as quiet as a tomb looking around himself as if waiting for something.

Finally, getting nervous and inpatient, Pansy asked, trying to sound as pleasant a possible:

"What are we doing here?"

"Ah…yes…sorry…I wanted to know if…well…if…" Nott stuttered.

"What?" Pansy almost shouted already starting to panic and seriously considering to through a stunning curse at him.

"Are you going with anyone to the ball?" Nott finally managed to ask.

Pansy would have either cried or laughed just for the relief she was feeling. Thinking she would scare the poor boy if she did the former, she started giggling almost hysterically puzzling Theodore.

"Alright…I realise this is a stupid idea…after all, everyone knows you're Draco's girlfriend…" Nott said looking abash and turning round to leave.

Pansy, seeing this, stopped laughing and while still smiling, she said:

"I'm sorry, I wasn't laughing at you…and although you're right regarding the fact that I am Draco's girlfriend, I will be more than happy to go with you to the ball…."

Pansy thought Theodore could have fainted and that made her smile grow wider.

To be continued…

_A/N: Since I've been such a bad girl and I haven't updated in all the weekend, I have chosen a very nice end of chapter without any cliffie…I hope you're happy with it…as you can see this is a pretty positive chapter because soon, things will get a bit nastier…(oops spoiler alert!!)_

_THANKS FOR YOUR REVIEWS GUYS, YOU'RE GREAT!!!_


	22. Chapter Twenty One

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

****

_Chapter Twenty One_

As she was walking back to the classroom, for her Charms lesson, it occurred to Pansy that she had agreed to go to the ball without thinking of the consequences: she now had to find something suitable to wear.

Unfortunately, since she had taken for granted she was going to go to the ball alone, she had not bothered getting new robes like the rest of the girls and, Pansy knew that since she usually set the example among most of the Slytherin girls, presenting herself in the school ball with a set of old robes, was not really an option.

She started making a mental inventory of everything she had in the wardrobe hoping she had something that could be magically transformed to create a nice outfit for the ball.

Finally, she decided to ask Professor Flitwick for a charm that would help her change the colour of her old pink robes, a nice shade of dark blue would look good with her dark hair. She also needed them to be a little less frilly so they would look a bit more grown up.

She left the classroom and went quickly to the girl's bathroom to hide in one of the cubicles so she could take a look at the coin. Pansy was actually quite surprised about the fact of being called in for a D.A. meeting since she had been under the impression that Harry had meant the previous gathering to be the last of the term.

Looking at the coin she found out that they were summoned to be at the usual place only that they had to be there at six o'clock instead of the usual seven. This would give her very little to get ready so she decided that she would skip her last lesson in order to be able to prepare the dress with the charm Professor Filtwick had given to her.

At the end of Herbology, instead of heading to Divination, her last lesson of the term, Pansy ran to her dorm, took her pink robes and transformed them into a nice dark, glittery blue robes and, as a final touch, she replaced the lacy ends with a nice silver ribbon that covered the edge of both the sleeves and the bottom. She used a bit of the ribbon to trace a line that would be just under her breasts. 

Finally happy with the result, she put the new robes back in her wardrobe thanking her lucky stars that her mother had insisted so much she took that course of magic sawing when she was younger.

Seeing it was almost time for the meeting, she took a quick shower and changed into more comfortable clothes getting ready in case Hermoine wanted to continue their kickboxing training.

Ah yes…kickboxing, some muggle martial art…at first Pansy was horrified that she was learning something to do with the muggle world, but after a few lessons, she realised that it was really useful…it didn't require of you to be particularly strong, you just needed to hit or kick in the right spot and then get the opponent as tired as possible with quick, evasive moves…even Harry found it useful for the D.A. and they were now all training to become as agile as possible.

In any case, now Pansy felt a little bit more alert, like earlier on in the corridor with Theodore,  this made her feel a little bit more secure and that was really comforting.

As she arrived at the meeting point, she saw the trio talking to a few fellow D.A. members…by the looks of it Harry looked worried and, strangely enough, in some sort of discomfort.

"Are you alright Potter?" Pansy asked seeing now that Harry was actually leaning on Ron for support.

"He will be…he just needs rest" replied the red headed sixth year.

"Yeah…that's right…" replied Harry now bringing his hand towards his head touching the scar on his forehead.

Pansy didn't buy it but in any case, she didn't want to insist, specially now that there were more of the D.A. members joining them.

They went all into their room and, oddly enough, it wasn't Harry who spoke to the group, as usual, it was Hermoine.

"Hey, I'm sorry for calling you with such short notice but…something has happened today…Harry's been getting some feedback from Voldemort…apparently they are preparing some attack at the Ministry…Harry is not sure of what Voldemort meant since we don't think he was consciously telling Harry…it was more as if Harry had eavesdropped on a conversation Voldemort was having with his Death Eaters."

Hermoine paused and, seeing she had the room's attention, continued:

"In any case, I will ask of you to stay alert during the ball…if we need to, we must be ready to leave for the Ministry as soon as possible…and, if nothing happens, as we are all hoping, then, please, do stay alert over the holidays…but please be careful and don't overdo anything, the majority of us is still underage…that is all…have fun tonight and Happy Christmas."

Harry then stood up and said with a voice a tad less firm than usual:

"Thank you for all your efforts…you're all really good and I'm pleased with your progress…have a nice holidays…"

With this, the D.A. considered the meeting adjourned and started emptying the room.

Pansy was leaving feeling as though as she had a stone in her stomach. She was really surprised with this new bit of information. Draco had been very sure that the attack would have been at the school…surely Voldemort had changed his mind…

"Pansy?" the Slytherin heard Hermoine's voice behind her.

"Yes?" Pansy replied turning round to face the trio walking towards her with Ginny and Neville following them closely.

"Don't you have anything to tell us?" Ron asked keeping his voice very neutral.

"No…" Pansy replied a tiny bit too fast.

"Ah…ok…" Hermoine said looking at her straight in the eye.

Pansy turned around to leave and started walking away from them, confused. Her instincts told her she really ought to tell them what Draco had told her, just in case, but again, she didn't want to tell them that she had seen Draco because that would lead to entirely too many questions and, so far, she was not ready to answer any of them.

She was nearing the entrance of the dungeons when, after a fierce verbal battle between the two annoying, little inner voices in her head, the one that voted to tell the Gryffindors about the school grounds attack, finally won the fight.

She started running to the marble stairs and was about to open the door that lead to that section of the castle, when she heard a high pitched voice, it clearly belonged to Ginny Weasley.

"But she's lying…how can we still accept her in the D.A. meetings?"

"Harry knows what he's doing Ginny." Replied another voice, this one was Ron's low, soft voice.

"Yes, but you heard Hermoine, don't forget she's mastering occlumency as well…she saw pretty clearly that Pansy's been seeing Draco and writing to him…" Ginny insited.

"Precisely…that is all going according to Dumbledore's plans…" Ron said tiredly, as if he didn't want to tell the whole thing.

"What do you mean? Which plans?" Ginny asked curious.

"You really should know by now…" Ron said, his voice getting fainter, obviously he was walking up the stairs away from the door where a very shocked Pansy stood still, "She's been reporting whatever we wanted for her to report…and we've been getting very useful information from Hermoine during the Kick…coxin…no, kicksox…oh that muggle sport…that's why Dumbledore insisted so Hermoine mastered the art of Legilimency…she's been reading Parkinson's mind for quite a while now…"

To be continued…


	23. Chapter Twenty Two

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

****

_Chapter Twenty Two_

Pansy needed every ounce of her upbringing to prevent herself from screaming. She had never felt more affronted in her entire life. She realised now that, not only the trio had been treacherous but they had done it in such a cunning way that not even Pansy, used to deal with these kind of double-crossing, had seen it coming. True enough, Hermoine had so far been so kind to Pansy that the Slytherin had probably let her guard down far too much. Now, of course, Pansy understood the actual reason for her kindness.

She made a mental list of everything she had told Draco and, more importantly, of everything Draco had told her and felt a sensation plummeting inside her stomach making it feel cold.

It was fear.

She was scared to find out that in this war things were going to be a lot more complicated than just the good and the bad fighting and one of the sides eventually winning. She realised something that most people knew, or at least ought to know: at war, there is no 'good side' nor 'bad side', just two groups of people too angry and too upset to just sit down and talk things through.

Pansy was thinking of what her next move should be when she heard two girls giggling. Hearing the laughter she shivered. How people was able to laugh when there was such a dark cloud above everyone's head?

Then she remembered the ball. How was she going to pretend everything was alright with the trio?

Especially now that she knew that Hermoine could read her mind?

Too many questions were quickly filling her head, not only clouding her thoughts but also it almost made her forget something crucial: she needed to warn Draco about Hermoine's new ability and about…she couldn't even bring herself to voice it…the way she had been used so slyly by the trio.

She started running towards the Slytherin common room to fetch a piece of parchment so she could write a message for Draco.

"AH!! There you are!! We've been looking for you all evening!! We've got to get ready!!" Sonia shouted loudly the minute Pansy stepped into the common room.

"Sonia…I need to do something…" Pansy started saying.

"Oh…rubbish…we've got to get changed…you can do whatever it is later…" Sonia said grabbing Pansy by her left arm dragging her towards their dormitory, ignoring every single one of Pansy's protests.

Soon enough, the girls dormitory looked like a hair saloon mixed with a clothes' shop producing a weird witches fashion parade, with flashes of all colours coming out of their wands.

"NO!!! That spell was supposed to turn my hair blond!! Now it's pink!!" one of Pansy's roommates started screaming.

"Silly, you've used the wrong combination of words!! You're supposed to say them this way!" the  girl's best friend replied apparently changing the way the words were arranged.

"Ah! Merlin, I'll never be ready on time!!"

Pansy was so shocked to see the huge mess the girls had managed to cause inside only thirty minutes that she was forgetting to get ready herself.

"Hoi! You've got to get ready, don't you??" Sonia screamed from the other side of the room causing Pansy to startle as if she had been awaken from a deep sleep.

"Sure…sorry…" she nodded while going to get her robes to start getting dressed.

Finally, after what it seemed an eternity, all the girls were ready and followed Pansy downstairs to meet the boys, some of whom were the girl's partners for the ball.

Highly polished and looking very smart indeed, Theodore Nott was among them, waiting for Pansy at the bottom of the stairs.

"You look great…" he muttered seeing Pansy with her set of dark, shimmering blue robes. She had done her hair in the way she knew it looked best, up in a French knot leaving a few strands hang just on each side of her face. She had only put a bit of gloss on her lips knowing that her pale skin and big eyes didn't need any make up.

"Thanks, you too…" replied Pansy half because it was actually true and half because etiquette required that she returned the compliment.

They were all walking towards the Great Hall when Pansy remembered about the message she had to send to Draco. She started quickly thinking about ways to get away for a brief moment but each one sounded odder and ruder than the previous one. She realised that it was impossible, at least for the time being, to disappear quietly to write to Draco.

Pansy was grateful to avoid the Gryffindors for the entire duration of their evening meal. The dance had finally started and Pansy thought to dance a few times with Theodore then, she would find an excuse to leave the Great Hall for a bit.

Naturally, as she was quickly learning, planning things involving a third party was just as unreliable as the weather predictions.

"Where are you going?" Theodore asked her seeing her motioning towards the door after a few dances.

"I…I need some air…" Pansy said using the first excuse that came up her mind.

"Ah…right…I'll come outside with you…" Theodore said offering her his arm.

Pansy's heart sank.

"It's not necessary…just stay here and have fun…" Pansy said smiling as much as she could although she was screaming inside 'GO AWAY!'.

"It's not a problem…it's rather hot here…I fancy some fresh air too…" Theodore said apparently not taking the hint.

Pansy didn't really know what to say so she thought of buying time just letting the boy come out with her…she would then think of something to tell him so, linking her arm with his, Pansy let him guide her across the Great Hall to go outside the castle.

They went to the grounds to sit on one of its stone benches.

"I'm very happy you decided to come with me to the ball…" Pansy heard Theodore saying.

Pansy just smiled really not knowing what to say.

"I know you're Draco's girlfriend but…I wonder…" Theodore started saying.

"Theodore…" Pansy said not liking the path their conversation was following.

"I'm sorry, is just that…I…" Theodore kept saying but Pansy wasn't listening. She had looked down the grounds to the lake and had seen something that had frozen her.

At first she thought it was the giant squid that inhabited the school lake. Then, being just too many spots, she thought it had to be some sort of animals just floating on the water's surface.

Now, that was taking a better look, Pansy saw something that couldn't be possible. They looked like boats. But no boats, other than the ones used the first day of each year for the first years to cross the lake, were actually used.

She thought it was just a trick of her nervous imagination. In any case, she wanted to get away from there as soon as possible.

"Let's go inside…I'm cold now…" Pansy said.

"Ah…sorry, I'm a disaster…" Theodore said, realising now that Pansy had been ignoring him. The boy took off his cloak to put it on her shoulders. With the same movement, unfortunately for Pansy, Theodore grabbed her from her shoulders and pulled her towards him.

"What are you doing?" Pansy said freaked out, Blaise's attack still freshly imprinted on her mind.

"I love you Pansy…" Theodore started saying placing his hand on the left side of Pansy's face.

Pansy was about to use of the moves Hermoine had taught her when a cold, sneering voice coming from somewhere in the darkness said:

"Get your hands off her, you filthy bastard."

Pansy would have recognised that voice in a million. Pulling herself free from Theodore's embrace, turned round to face the long, pale face that she knew and loved so much.

"Draco…" Pansy said.

"Pansy go inside and hide…I'll go and find you when everything is over…" Draco said not letting her speak.

Pansy then, for some instinctive, unknown reason, looked back at the lake. The boats she thought she had imagined to be on the lake were now on the lake's shore and some people were now disembarking them.

This could only mean something. The war's first real battle was about to begin.

To be continued…

_A/N: Sorry for the delay updating, I had my little brother (he's almost 2 meters [6ft 3in] tall!!) came over the weekend to visit and left only yesterday! I will try to update tomorrow…in any case, I will have at least one more chapter up before the end of the week…_

_Thanks for the reviews…you really help me keep up with this little story of mine…_


	24. Chapter Twenty Three

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

****

_Chapter Twenty Three_

"Draco…I need to tell you something…" Pansy said noticing, with horror, that her voice was trembling.

"Not now…you need to leave and hide…or would you rather stay and fight?" Draco asked making Pansy suppose that the second option didn't sound so bad…at least she would be with him. Unfortunately for Pansy, something in Draco's voice made her think that he wasn't offering alternatives.

"Come on Pansy…let's go…" Pansy heard Theodore say reminding her of his presence there.

"No…you stay here…" Draco said not giving Pansy time to reply.

"But…" Theodore started saying.

"No 'but'…Nott…do you think I'm stupid or what? I'm not having you anywhere near her…" Draco said making Pany realise he had to be very nervous to appear so transparent…the perfectly restrained Draco was actually showing his feelings in a shockingly shameless way.

He was jealous. That would have made Pansy feel so incredibly happy had it not been for the fact that a battle, THE battle was about to start.

"Draco…why doesn't he go inside…I'd rather stay with you…" Pansy said hopeful.

"Oh my…my…Draco…you are a real heartthrob…Miss Parkinson…really…what is your father going to say about this…"

Pansy, Draco and an increasingly frightened Theodore turned round to face Lucius Malfoy.

He looked terrible…his platinum blond hair, the same one Draco had, looked a lot less tidier than the last time Pansy had seen him bu, the biggest difference, was his facial expression: it was as if whatever he had to endure while in Azkaban had imprinted deeply within him…this was the face of a man that had known, for the first time in his life, fear and misery.

Pansy was so focused on his arrival that she almost missed someone a whole lot scarier. The Dark Lord was there. Standing right behind Lucius Malfoy.

The Slytherin girl couldn't believe her eyes. It was definitely Voldemort…Draco had described him well enough to be mistaken.

Theodore fell onto the ground with one loud thud. He had fainted. Pansy didn't really blame him for she was about to faint as well.

"What's going on Malfoy?" he hissed sounding just like a snake.

"Nothing…my son was just conversing with one of his classmates…or should I say…girlfriend?" Lucius said looking at Pansy with an amused look in his eyes.

"Let's get on with our plans…young Malfoy, if you want us to spare her life…you better ask her to hide…hide well…so we don't see her…" Voldemort hissed freaking Pansy out so much she wanted, not only to hide, but for the ground to split open and swallow her.

Pansy gave Draco a quick glance and realised he was almost as scared as herself. That was definitely not good. She was prepared to everything as long as Draco reassured her. Seeing him so scared was just too much.

"Alright then…you all know what to do…whoever finds Potter first must bring him before me…" Voldemort said and, forgetting all about Pansy, turned round to walk back to the boats.

"Yes milord…" Lucius replied with a light bow, then speaking to the Death Eathers that had gathered around them, added "We must go inside the school, try to get our kids out of there…Hogwarts will be ours before the end of the night. As for me, I'll go after Dumbledore…"

"Malfoy…What about the mudbloods?" one of the Death Eaters asked.

"Welll…there will be plenty of confusion…and…accidents do happen…" Malfoy replied.

"What do you mean?" Crabbe senior asked.

"Just do whatever you want with them…I personally think this place needs a good clean up…" Malfoy snorted and, beginning to lose his patience, said "Come on son…we all know what to do…"

Without bothering to wait, Lucius started walking to the school's entrance.

"Yes Father…" Draco replied starting to follow his father making Pansy think he had forgot about her too.

To prove her wrong, Draco turned briefly and said:

"Pansy…really…you need to hide…they're going to spare only the kids of the Death Eaters…and you're not one of them…"

"But Draco…I need to speak to you…" Pansy replied. She had ran towards him and was now following the blond young man's father as well.

"What is it?" Draco said finally paying attention.

"Hermoine has been reading my mind…apparently she's been taking Occlumency lessons…she knows everything you've told me…" Pansy said urgently hoping her stupidity would not get punished too severely by Draco.

He reacted in the very last way she expected of him. Draco started laughing.

"Pansy…Pansy…you really thought I would tell you anything important? Father said that it would be unwise to trust you with important information…we've been feeding you with whatever we thought would confuse Dumbledore and Potter…" Draco explained to Pansy leaving her feeling sick and speechless.

Draco left her side and went to talk to his father, Pansy saw them laughing out loud. If she had been upset before…she was now devastated. Everything had been a game…and she had been used as a pawn.

Pansy felt furious…she wanted to scream…to hit something or, even better, someone…instead, and not seeing any useful alternative, she started running to the castle completely ignoring Draco when the boy started shouting her name.

Had she stopped, she would have heard Lucius saying to Draco:

"Let her go son…it will be better for us…she may even be stupid enough to go and warn Dumbledore…"

"But Father…why would that be good?" Draco asked feeling confused and…yes…angry with himself…he hadn't liked seeing Pansy so distressed.

"Well, if he knows Voldemort is here…he and Potter will go to him directly…and that is exactly what I want…" Lucius replied whispering in his son's ear.

Draco looked at his father. The older of the Malfoys really looked determined. Draco then realised, for the first time that, even though his father's plan was almost suicidal, Lucius was definitely resolute to succeed.

That scared the platinum blond even more.

To be continued…

_A/N: Just as promised…another chapter!! Yeah, I know...a bit short...I'll try to post one more this weekend though..._

_Ah…as usual, thanks for the reviews!! All your questions will be answered in the next chapters…do not fear!!! Love you all, Sanae_


	25. Chapter Twenty Four

**Hell**** Tastes Sweet**

****

_Chapter__ Twenty Four_

Pansy kept running like if there was no tomorrow. This had just been the last straw. The thing that had surpassed her tolerance limit. Pansy had only trusted one person in this whole affair and this person had just told her she wasn't trustworthy enough for him.

What upset her more than anything is that she would have trusted Draco with her own life. She still did. Obviously, the blond Slytherin didn't feel the same way about her.

She even started seeing his presumed jealousy for what it really was. Draco wasn't jealous. He felt that one of his possessions was taken away from him and his was just the kind of reaction a little kid would have if one took his favourite toy away from him.

For that was what she was. A toy. Everyone had just played with her and Pansy, with all her cunningness had not been able to sense it.

She stopped running once she reached the entrance of the dungeons. She tried to get her breathing back to a normal rate so she could think properly. After a few moments, she decided to ignore her hiding plan and walked back to the Great Hall.

There she saw the D.A. gathered outside the Hall's door. Harry was already speaking to the D.A. members.

"They're here…and You-Know-Who is with them!!" Pansy said walking in interrupting the emergency meeting.

"We know that Parkinson…" Ron said looking at her with disdain, clearly he had stopped every pretence now that the battle was imminent.

"Oh yeah…I forgot your girlfriend can sneak into people's minds…" Pansy said looking at Hermoine quite viciously, at least she would enjoy the whole thing a tiny bit. Granger was looking positively guilty.

"She can only read weak minds such as yours…she only needed to mutter the incantation for it to work!!" Ron replied as offensively as he could trying to hide the shock he felt realising that the Slytherin knew the truth.

"Guys…we're missing the big picture here…" Harry said interrupting the exchange not really feeling they had time for petty fights. He looked as though as he wanted to say something else but then Dumbledore, followed by McGonagall and Snape arrived with what looked like a pretty important message.

"Harry…I've just received word from the Ministry…they've already attacked there…and, I'm afraid but It seems that Fudge is dead…"

Everyone gasped.

"We've got every one of our aurors fighting the Death Eaters' army there…unfortunately that means that we're left to defend Hogwarts on our own. I've already called a few of the Order to help, they will be here as soon as they can…"

Harry considered the whole thing briefly before saying, speaking to the whole group:

"Alright guys…you've heard Professor Dumbledore...we are on our own…whoever doesn't feel like fighting, you better go back to the Great Hall to join your classmates…as you know there will be enough teachers there to defend you…whoever stays, prepare yourselves to apply everything you've learnt so far…now, I say, who's with me?"

Everyone said in a single voice:

"ME!"

Pansy found herself pushed aside by the human wave formed by the members of the D.A. Hermoine stopped briefly by her side and said:

"I'm sorry…I had to do it…"

Pansy nodded. For some reason, she understood the Gryffindor's behaviour and tried not to blame her for it. The Slytherin felt even more upset seeing that Hermoine was truly as sorry as she said.

Meanwhile, Lucius and Draco and the Death Eaters had finally reached the castle main entrance. Lucius stopped there and, after making sure Voldemort had indeed stayed by the lake, said:

"It is now time…"

"Time for what Malfoy?" Avery asked.

"For you all to know that I have no intention whatsoever of following that madman's stupid pursue..." Lucius said almost casually.

"What do you mean?" another of the Death Eaters asked half confused half curious.

"Voldemort has lied to us all…he is a half blood…Potter was right, I've checked it out…his father was a muggle…the Dark Lord we've all followed is fraud…he's no better than any of the mudbloods…and does not care about the purity of the blood…the sacred duty that we all have…we must fight to keep the magic inside the magic families…Voldemort doesn't care about that…being a half blood himself…he must be eliminated…"

Lucius clearly had everyone's attention so he kept going.

"We'll let Potter and Dumbledore fight him, with a bit of luck they're going to kill one another…then, we must get rid of as many mudbloods as possible…we'll control Hogwarts as well as the Ministry, from there…we'll be able to change the way the government is managed…and magic will stay where it belongs…with us purebloods…"

The Death Eaters considered the whole thing for a few moments.

"I'm with you…" Avery said.

"Me too…I can't believe that scum is a halfblood…that's disgusting…" Crabbe said feeling utterly repulsed about the whole thing.

"Well…let's get on with the plan…today will be day where Slytherin's dream will come true…Hogwarts will become the kind of school he planned…and we'll rule the Ministry as it ought to be ruled…"

Lucius was ecstatic seeing every one Death Eaters present agreeing with his plan so quickly. He was so happy that he forgot to stay alert. Had he done so, he would have realised that they were being observed.

The group of Death Eaters walked to meet whichever resistance Dumbledore had prepared to fight them. It was only then that the figure that had stayed silent behind some bushes for quite some time finally emerged with a small smile.

He summoned all the courage he could muster and walked towards the lake where he was sure he would be welcomed.

"What are you doing here kid?" one of the Death Eaters that had stayed with the Dark Lord asked him as soon as he arrived.

"I need to speak to the Dark Lord…" the boy replied.

"And what does make you think his Lordship will want to speak to you?" the Death Eater replied clearly making fun of him.

"Because I know that Malfoy is planning to betray him…" the boy replied.

"What? What's your name boy?" The Death Eater asked shocked.

"My name is Blaise Zabini".

To be continued…


	26. Chapter Twenty Five

**Hell**** Tastes Sweet**

****

_Chapter__ Twenty Five_

Dumbledore saw Lucius just before the platinum blond man could see him. The Death Eaters found themselves faced by a few of the D.A. members with their wands already drawn.

For a split second, it looked like the whole world had paused. Everything was still and a few of the people there even forgot to breath. Probably too scared to break the sudden, heavy silence.

Finally, Dumbledore said:

"So…Lucius…I guess this is the moment you've been waiting for…"

"Actually no…you only had to run this school properly…then, none of this would have happened…" Lucius said frankly.

"Professor…" Harry whispered trying to get the Headmaster's attention.

"Lucius…where is he?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'm here…" a hissing, extremely familiar voice said.

Everyone jumped inside their own skins. For most of them, this was the first time they actually set their eyes on the Dark Lord and, as Harry knew well, it wasn't a pleasant experience.

"Voldemort…at last, I thought you weren't going to join us…" Dumbledore said.

Pansy arrived at this precise moment. She had decided not to remain passive in this battle. The problem was trying to decide which side she ought to fight with.

She seeked Draco and found him right next to his father. He looked at her, probably feeling observed and locked her eyes with his. Pansy as completely taken aback with what she could see in the normally ice cold grey eyes.

They were saying something that according to Pansy couldn't be possible. She lowered her eyes and lifted them again. He was still looking at her and the same message was being delivered.

He seemed to sense the confusion that reigned inside her because she saw him forming with his lips the sentence that was already spoken by his eyes.

I LOVE YOU

Pansy was totally stunned. Then, just to astonish her even more, she saw Draco smiling briefly at her with one of his rare, true smiles. The ones that made his entire face lit up. The ones that made Pansy want to jump on him and kiss him silly.

"Me too…" Pansy whispered more to herself than to him, she had almost forgotten where she was when she heard Voldemort's voice speaking.

"So, what is it that I hear about your secret plan…Malfoy?"

Lucius didn't know what to say so he tried the oldest trick in the book:

"I don't know what are you talking about Milord…"

"Now, now Malfoy…you're not so stupid as to believe I'm going to fall for this one…as a matter of fact this information comes from the best source…a student…there is not more truth than the one spoken by a child…"

Lucius suddenly saw the kid standing by one of the Death Eaters that were with the Dark Lord. He recognised him almost immediately and so did Draco.

"Zabini!" Draco was the first to react.

"That's right…Malfoy" Blaise said stepping forward.

Taking the chance given by the kid's interruption, Voldemort withdrawn his wand and, after this, everything happened very quickly.

Pansy realised that Voldemort was pointing his wand towards the Malfoy's and, unsure of who was his target, she decided to run to protect Draco.

Voldemort spoke his incantation with all the malevolence only he, the Dark Lord, could muster:

"CRUCIO!!!"

The spell hit Pansy straight in her chest as she was running to put herself in a position to protect Draco. She was not prepared for this though. The crucius spell made her feel as if someone was trying to remove the bones from her body while she was still alive. After what seemed years, her body did her the enormous favour of shutting down.

She didn't hear Draco's scream of anguish. She didn't hear anything else.

She definitely didn't hear Dumbledore, Harry and every member of the D.A. present in one side, and Lucius, Draco and the other Death Eaters in the other, all with their wands drawn, point them towards Voldemort.

"Come on, you're surrounded…you should surrender…" Dumbledore said still with his wand pointed at Voldemort.

"I don't think so…" Voldemort replied.

Draco felt a shiver coming from the top of his spine travelling all the way down. He tried to guard with his own body that of his girlfriend Pansy, the bad feeling he had been having the whole night, was just getting worse. Every one of his instincts were telling him to get out of there.

He cast a quick glance at Pansy trying to decide if he would be able to carry her, in case he had to flee away from there. She was still out of it which was probably a good thing seeing that her body was still shaking due to the crucius curse.

Draco turned his attention back to Voldemort, the blond young man saw the rest of what happened in slow motion, it would actually be how he would remember the whole thing for the rest of his life.

Voldemort, not seeing any possible way to escape decided to summon up all his magic powers and, defying the popular conviction that one could not disapparate from Hogwarts, he did so.

Only that, just before he did it, he spoke three more words. Those three words would be engraved in everyone's mind forever but more specifically, Draco would never forget them.

"Traitor!! Avada Kedavra!!"

A green jet of light made its way straight to its target. A body was heard drop dead on the ground. Draco identified the victim of the fatal curse and his body was filled with sheer horror.

Lucius Malfoy's body lain still at the feet of his only son.

_A/N: Ok, guys, this is the end!!! Just kidding:  epilogue is next!!_


	27. Epilogue

**Hell Tastes Sweet**

_Epilogue_

Pansy opened her eyes as slowly as possible as if she knew before hand how painful it would be for her to do so. She looked around herself to see that she was in the hospital wing.

Suddenly the girl saw Madam Pomfrey, the school nurse, coming towards her holding an envelope in her right hand.

"Dear, your parents are on their way here…and this is for you…" the old healing witch said handing her the white small envelope.

Pansy took the envelope with a shaky hand, surprised to see how weak she really was. Looking at the writing she didn't even needed to see the sender's name.

Inside, she found a one page letter.

"Dear Pansy,

I'm sorry I can't say this in person. You probably don't know since you were unconscious at the time but You-Know-Who has killed my father.

(at this point the writing was as shaky as Pansy's hand)

You-Know-Who managed to escape and this has caused that many of us, including my family, have had to run away for a while until things settle down and we can analyse the situation better and decide what to do next. Specially now that You-Know-Who considers us traitors.

I'm not sure how long it will take though so I don't think it would be fair if I asked you to wait for me but, know this Pansy: I love you. I realised it far too late, I know…and I now need you more than ever… I just wish I had treated you better while you were with me. I'm beginning to realise that, every one of us sooner or later pays for their deeds. This, of course, includes You-Know-Who. Sooner or later, I'll make him pay for my father's death. I will come back to avenge him. Even if it's the last thing I do alive.

I hope I will be able to send you a few words every now and then…I can't promise anything though.

Dumbledore has promised to me that he'll look after you and your family, I hope that old madman will keep his word.

Please, look after yourself.

Love,

Draco Malfoy

PS: You'll be happy to know that Blaise Zabini is no longer at Hogwarts, Dumbledore has expelled him."

Pansy read the last few words through the constant flow of tears coming out her eyes. She felt sorry for Draco, for his loss, for having to run away but, more than anything, she felt sorry for herself. She had finally managed to matter to him and now, he had had to leave her. And he was telling her it wouldn't be fair for him to ask her to wait, as if he needed to ask.

Pansy would wait for him forever. Even if it meant spending the rest of her live alone.

Draco loved her and for Pansy this meant the whole world to her.

She would wait. Forever.

Hugging the letter, Pansy fell back asleep.

THE END

_A/N: Coming soon: Heaven Tastes Sweeter (Hell tastes sweet sequel): Draco comes back to avenge his father's death by joining Harry on the quest to kill Voldemort. Has Pansy kept her promise to wait for him?_

**_Thanks every single one of you who used  some of his/her precious time to review this little story, I hope you liked it and I hope you will enjoy its sequel…I LOVE YOU ALL!!!_**


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